K2Z?
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THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
ANTCOUABIAA1
C.RJ.VAN DER PEET
N SFIEGUSTRAAI 33 35
AMSTERDAM
/k//i ?v^t<-y ^<y>/>y- fo&^n^" ^/f
A VISIT TO JAVA
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF
THE FOUNDING OF SINGAPORE
W. BASIL WORSFOLD.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON,
^ubltsfjcrs in ©rctnarg to $rr fftajcstg tfjr ©turn.
1893.
{Ail rights reserved.)
PREFACE.
In writing these pages I have had before me a
double purpose. First, to present to the general
reader an account of what seemed to me to be
a singularly interesting country, and one which,
while being comparatively little known, has yet
certain direct claims upon the attention of Eng-
lishmen. Secondly, to provide a book which,
without being a guide book, would at the same
time give information practically useful to the
English and Australian traveller.
In sending this book to the press I have to
acknowledge the courtesy of the editors of the
Field and of Land and Water. To the former
I am indebted for permission to make use of an
unusually interesting quotation from Mr. Charles
Ledger's letter to the Field on the subject of
134C£71
IV PREFACE.
cinchona introduction, and also to include a short
article of my own on " Horse-racing in Java" in
Chapter XII. The latter has kindly allowed me
to reproduce an account of my visit to the Bui-
tenzorg Gardens, published in Land and Water.
My general indebtedness to standard works,
such as Raffles' " Java," and Mr. Wallace's
" Malay Archipelago," and also to those gentle-
men who, like Dr. Treub, most kindly placed
their information at my disposal in Java, is, I
hope, sufficiently expressed in the text.
Professor Rhys Davids has very kindly read
over the proof sheets of the chapter on the Hindu
Temples ; and I take this opportunity of acknow-
ledging my sense of his courtesy in so doing, and
my indebtedness to him for several valuable
suggestions.
The spelling of the Javanese names and words
has been a matter of some difficulty. The
principle I have finally adopted is this. While
adopting the Dutch spelling for the names of
PREFACE. V
places and in descriptions of the natives, and thus
preserving the forms which the traveller will find
in railway time tables and in the Dutch accounts
of the island, I have returned to the English
spelling in narrative passages, and in those
chapters where the reader is brought into contact
with previous English works. But I have found
it impossible to avoid occasional inconsistencies.
In my account of the literature of the island I
have kept to the Dutch titles of Javanese works
as closely as possible ; but I have modified the
transliteration in accordance with the usages of
English oriental scholars.
W. B. W.
£>
i, Pump Court, Temple, E.C.,
November, 1892.
/
j
a javanese actress.
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT UP TO THE PRESENT DAY.
Hindus — Mohammedans — Portuguese — English — Dutch
— Legal basis of Dutch possession — British occupa-
tion — Return of Dutch — Culture system — Eruption
of Mount Krakatoa ... ... ... ... i
CHAPTER II.
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS.
Area — Climate — Permission to travel — Chief objects of
interest — Means of locomotion — Language — Hotels 1 7
CHAPTER III.
THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES.
Dutch possessions in the East — Government — Army and
navy — Administration — Development of natives —
Raden Saleh — Native dress — Cooking and houses
— Rice cultivation — Amusements— Marriage cere-
mony ... ... ... ... ... 38
CHAPTER IV.
BATAVIA.
Tanjong Priok — Sadoes — Batavia — Business quarter —
Telephoning — Chinese Cam pong — Weltevreden —
Waterloo Plain — Peter Elberfeld's house — Raffles
and Singapore ... ... ... ... 62
Vlll CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
THE HINDU TEMPLES.
PAGE
The temple remains generally — The connection between
Buddha and Brahma — The Boro-Boedoer — Loro-
Jonggrang ... ... ... ... 86
Annex : The Routes to the Temples ... ... ioo
CHAPTER VI.
BUITENZORG.
Batavian heat — To Buitenzorg by rail — Buitenzorg —
Kotta Batoe — Buffalo — Sawah land — Sketching a
Javan cottage ... ... ... ... 103
CHAPTER VII.
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS.
History of the Buitenzorg gardens — Teysmann — Scheffer
— Three separate branches — Horticultural garden —
Mountain garden — Botanical garden— Dr. Treub —
Lady Raffles' monument — Pandanus with aerial
roots — Cyrtostachys renda — Stelecho-karpus — Uro-
stigma — Brazilian palms — Laboratories and offices
— Number of men employed — Scientific strangers ... 117
CHAPTER VIII.
FROM BUITENZORG TO TJI WANGI.
View of Mount Salak — Railway travelling in Java —
Soekaboemi — No coolies — A long walk — Making
zpikulan — Forest path— Tji Wangi at last ... 134
CONTENTS. IX
CHAPTER X.
ON A COFFEE PLANTATION.
PAGE
CHAPTER IX.
THE CULTURE SYSTEM.
Financial system previous to the British occupation —
Raffles' changes — Return of the Dutch — Financial
policy — Van den Bosch Governor-general — Intro-
duction of the culture system — Its application to
sugar — To other industries — Financial results of the
system — Its abandonment — Reasons of this — Pre-
sent condition of trade in Java — Financial outlook 147
The Tji Wangi bungalow — Coffee plantations — Cin-
chona — Native labour — A wayang — Country-bred
ponies — Bob and the ducks — Loneliness of a
planter's life ... ... ... ... 169
CHAPTER XI.
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE.
Mr. Wallace and the Malay Archipelago — Animals —
Birds — General characteristics of plants — European
flora in mountains — Darwin's explanation —
Fruits — History of cinchona introduction — Mr.
Ledger's story — Indiarubber ... ... ... 186
CHAPTER XII.
SOCIAL LIFE.
Dutch society in the East — Batavian etiquette — English
residents — Clubs — Harmonie — Concordia — Lawn-
tennis — Planters — Horse-racing ... ... 207
X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE HINDU JAVANESE LITERATURE.
PAGE
The Hindu Javanese literature concerned with the past
— Javanese alphabet — Extent of Javanese works —
Kavi dialect — Krama and Ngoko — The Mahabha-
rata and the Ramayana in Kavi — Native Kavi works
— The Arjuna Vivaya — The Bharata Yuddha —
Episode of Salya and Satiavati — Ethical poems —
The Paniti Sastra — Localization of Hindu mythology
in Java ... ... ... ... ... 223
CHAPTER XIV.
WORKS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD.
Uncertainty about the history of the Hindu kingdoms
given by the chronicles — Character of the babad, or
chronicle — Its historical value — Brumund's treat-
ment of the babads — Account of the babad
" Mangku Nagara" — Prose works — The Niti Praja
■ — The Surya Ngalam — Romances — The Johar Mani-
kam — Dramatic works — The Panjis — Wayang plays
— Arabic works and influence — The theatre — The
wayang ... ... ... ... ... 241
CHAPTER XV.
SINGAPORE.
Batavia and Singapore — Raffles' arrival in the East —
Determines to oppose the Dutch supremacy in the
Archipelago — Occupation of Java — Is knighted —
Returns from England — Foundation of Singapore —
Uncertainty whether the settlement would be main-
tained — His death — Description of bingapore —
Epilogue ... ... ... ... ••• 265
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Mount Salak, from the Hotel Belle Vue, at
Buitenzorg ... ... ... Frontispiece
A Javanese Actress ... ... ... ... vi
Mohammedan Armour ... ... ■•• xii
A Portuguese House, Batavia To face 6
Chinese Barber ... ... ... ... 37
Palace of a Native Prince ... ... To face 43
Woman cooking Rice. Kompor ... ... „ 51
A Bullock Cart ... ... ... ,, 54
A Sawah Plough ... ... ... ••• 61
The King's Plain, Batavia ... ... To face 67
Bridge leading to the Pazer Baroe, Batavia ., 70
The Waterloo Plain, Batavia ... „ 78
Sketch Map of Java ... ... ... „ 89
Section and Ground Plan of the Boro-Boedoer
Temple ... ... ... ... „ 94
A Javanese Cottage ... ... ... „ 114
Natives squatting ... ... ... ■■■ 116
A Happy Celestial ... ... ... 133
A Produce Mill ... ... ... To face 156
Rosamala Trees ... ... ••• „ 170
Women barking Cinchona ... ... ... 176
A Dalang ... ... ... To face 179
Coffee Berries ... ••• ••• ••• 185
A Wayang Figure ... ... ... ... 262
The Esplanade, Singapore ... ... To face 264
The Cavanagh Bridge, Singapore ... ... „ 282
s
MOHAMMEDAN ARMOUR.
A VISIT TO JAVA.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT UP TO THE PRESENT DAY.
Hindus — Mohammedans — Portuguese — English — Dutch —
Legal basis of Dutch possession — British occupation —
Return of Dutch — Culture system — Eruption of Mount
Krakatoa.
In the centre of that region of countless islands
termed not inaptly the " Summer of the World,"
midmost of the Sunda group of which Sumatra
lies to the west, and Flores to the east, with
the fury of the tropical sun tempered by a physical
formation which especially exposes it to the cool-
ing influence of the ocean, lies the island of Java.
Rich in historic remains of a bygone Hindu
supremacy, when the mild countenance of Buddha
gazed upon obedient multitudes, in memorials of
i
A VISIT TO JAVA.
Mohammedan, Portuguese, and Dutch seafaring
enterprises, it is a country singularly alluring to
the student and antiquarian. Nor is its present
life less interesting. Densely populated by a
simple and refined native race, who live for the
most part in the midst of mountain glories and
tropical verdure, itself the best example of a
rival and successful system of colonization,
modern Java is no mere tourist's country, but
one which possesses, and always has possessed,
special attractions for the man of science and the
political student.
From an immense mass of native tradition
the main outlines of the history of the island can
be disentangled with sufficient certainty.
Javanese tradition universally speaks of a
personage called Saka, variously termed warrior,
priest, and god, to whom is attributed the intro-
duction of the arts of civilization, and whose
advent marks the opening year of the native
chronology. The first year of Saka corresponds
to the seventy-eighth of the Christian era. There
can be no doubt as to the region from which
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT.
this extraneous civilization came. Native tradi-
tion and the vast religious monuments of the
eastern and central districts alike point to an
Indian colonization and supremacy ; for the
temples of Java bear the stamp of a culture and
of an artistic and architectural genius superior to
that possessed by a race, the sole record of whose
national existence is contained in the meagre
tradition of an immigration from the western
lands about the Red Sea.
Sir Stamford Raffles, in his exhaustive history
of Java, gives the names and dates of the Hindu
monarchs, with an account of their conquests and
administrations. But the native chronicles require
to be carefully sifted, and to be supported by
the record of the antiquarian remains, which
supply an unfailing basis for, at any rate,
the main outlines of the period. The oldest
inscriptions are found on the west side of
Buitenzorg, on river stones, and at Bekasi, on
the east side of Batavia ; they are written in
Sanskrit characters of the oldest period, and, by
comparison with the. inscriptions of British India,
A VISIT TO JAVA.
indicate the existence of Hindu civilization in
Java during the fourth and fifth centuries after
Christ. The oldest dated inscription in Java
(and in the Archipelago) is one bearing date
654 of Saka (a.d. 732). This is now in the
museum at Batavia. It contains twelve verses
in the Sanskrit tongue, and is about four feet in
length by two in width, and about ten inches
in depth.
The magnificent temple of Boro-Boedoer, of
which Mr. Wallace * says, " The amount of
human labour and skill expended on the Great
Pyramid of Egypt sinks into insignificance when
compared with that required to complete this
sculptured hill temple in the interior of Java," and
which will be separately described with the other
religious monuments, was probably erected in the
eighth or ninth century. It marks the highest
point in the Hindu supremacy, and the time
when the influence of Buddhism was supreme.
At any rate, we have the witness of Fa Hian,
a Chinese traveller, who visited the island in the
* " Malay Archipelago."
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT.
fifteenth century, to the effect that at this later
period " the Brahmins were still very numerous,
but the law of Buddha was no longer respected."
The earliest European visitors tell us nothing
of the two Hindu kingdoms, Pajajaran and Maja-
pahit, so celebrated in the chronicles. They
speak only of Sunda and its port Bantam ; and
they mention a certain prince, Fatelehan, as
completing the Mohammedan conquest in 1524.
Raffles, however, following the chronicles, focusses
the overthrow of the Hindu supremacy in the
capture of the city of Majapahit in 1478 a.d.
In spite of the traditions which speak of a
long period of fighting, it is probable that the
conversion of the Javanese to the new religion
was gradual and peaceable, being in the main
the result of commerce. The temples, the
head-quarters of the old religion, show no traces
of violence. They were destroyed, says Dr.
Leemans,* simply by " carelessness, disuse, and
nature," not by a sanguinary war. Long before
the Prince Fatelehan conquered the western
* " Boro-Boedoer Temples," by Dr. C. Leemans, a Leide 1874.
6 A VISIT TO JAVA.
kingdom of Sunda in 1524, Arab merchants had
spread the principles of Islamism among the
Javanese. It was just at the time of the estab-
lishment of the Mohammedan power that the first
Europeans made their way to the island. Por-
tuguese writers say that their people, after the
conquest of Malacca in 15 1 1, entered into relations
with the inhabitants of Bantam, through Samian,
a prince of Sunda, who had formerly lived at
Malacca. Leme, a Portuguese sent by Albu-
querque, Captain of Malacca, made a treaty with
this Samian, and obtained permission to build
a fortress at Bantam on condition that the prince
and his subjects were protected from the Moors.
In the realization of this object, an expedition was
sent by the Portuguese king under command of
Francesco de Sa ; but before it reached the
prince Bantam had been taken by treason, and
the Mohammedan power established under Fate-
lehan. Henceforward the native rulers were
Mohammedans, and the list of these sovereigns
given by Raffles extends from a.d. 1477 to
a.d. 1815.
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT.
The Portuguese were followed by the Dutch
and English after some considerable interval.
The first Dutch fleet, under the command of
Admiral Houtman, sailed for Bantam in the year
1595. The prince, who was then at war with
the Portuguese, allowed them to establish a
factory there, and thus the first Dutch settlement
in the East Indies was formed. Not long after,
the English East India Company (immediately
after their incorporation by Queen Elizabeth in
1 601) despatched a force under Captain Lan-
caster. He succeeded in establishing friendly
relations with the prince, who sent a letter to
the English queen, which is still extant among
the state records. This is noticeable as being
the first settlement of the East India Company;
and as showing that Hindustan, which now means
India for most people, was not the original "India"
of the company. In the subsequent quarrels
between the natives and the Dutch, the English
assisted the former so successfully that at one
time the Dutch had to enter into a convention
with the native chiefs and the English com-
8 A VISIT TO JAVA.
mander, by which they agreed to surrender their
fort at Jakatra and evacuate the island. On the
conclusion of peace, however, between the Dutch
and English in Europe, and on the arrival of
reinforcements under Jan Pietersen Koen, they
changed their plans, and, instead of retiring
from the island, proceeded to lay the foundations
of an extensive settlement at Jakatra.
In the following year (1621) the name of
Batavia was given to the settlement, and from
this period onwards the Dutch continually in-
creased their influence in the island, until in 1 749
a deed containing a formal abdication of the
sovereignty of the country was secured from the
dying susunan (or Mohammedan emperor). In
this the unfortunate prince " abdicates for himself
and his heirs the sovereignty of the country,
conferring the same on the Dutch East India
Company, and leaving it to them to dispose of in
future, to any person they might think competent
to govern it for the benefit of the company and
of Java." * It is by virtue of this deed that the
* Raffles' " History."
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT.
Dutch East India Company, and subsequently
the Dutch Colonial Government, became prac-
tically landlord of the whole island. Since the
Government assumed possession of the soil they
have gradually bought up the previously existing
rights of the native princes, and in return have
guaranteed them certain revenues, which have
now become in most cases mere official salaries.
Among the rights which the Government secured,
by thus becoming landlord of the island, was that
of receiving one-fifth part both of the produce
and of the labour of the Javan peasants. This
fact — that the mass of the Javan natives owed,
as it were, feudal services to the Government —
explains the comparative ease with which, nearly
a century later, the culture system was intro-
duced.
The English settlement at Bantam was with-
drawn in 1683, and no effort was made to
interfere with the Dutch until the year 181 1,
w T hen, owing to the conquests of Napoleon in
Europe, the island had become a mere French
province. In that year a British force reduced
IO A VISIT TO JAVA.
Java and its dependencies. During the short
period of British occupation (1811-1816) exten-
sive reforms were introduced by Sir Stamford
Raffles, the lieutenant-governor. These reforms
had for their object the improvement of the
condition of the mass of Javan natives, and the
liberation of the industries of the island from
the restrictions placed upon them by the monopo-
list policy of the Dutch. Whatever may be the
verdict of history as to the practical value of
these proposals, the attempt to carry them out
has at least left behind such a tradition of British
justice as to cause a feeling of profound respect
towards the English to be almost universally
entertained in the island to this day.
In the settlement effected by the Treaty of
London, in 18 14, the British Government re-
tained the Cape and Ceylon among the Dutch
possessions acquired by conquest in the Napo-
leonic wars, but Java and its dependencies were
restored to their former masters. A right of pro-
tectorate, however, over the neighbouring island
of Sumatra belonged to the British crown until
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT. I I
the year 1S72, when it was surrendered in return
for equivalent rights on the Gold Coast of Africa.
This concession has proved a veritable damnosa
hcreditas to the Government of Netherlands
India. The attempt to enforce the newly ac-
quired rights over the Sumatrans resulted in the
outbreak of the Atchinese war in 1873, an event
which has involved the island of Java in serious
financial difficulties, and imperilled the prestige
of Holland in the East.
A great part of the special interest which
attaches to Java is derived from the fact that it
has been the scene of an interesting financial
experiment. The history of the introduction of
the culture system, and of its gradual abandon-
ment in recent years, is so interesting as to
require a separate chapter to itself, and it is only
necessary to mention here just so much as is
essential for the purposes of a historical sketch.
The author of the proposal was General Van den
Bosch, who became Governor-General in 1830.
The system continued in full operation until the
year 1871, when the Home Government passed
12 A. VISIT TO JAVA.
an Act providing for the gradual abandonment
of the Government sugar plantations. By the
year 1890 sugar, by far the most important of
the Javan industries, was practically freed from
Government interference. At the present time it
is in debate whether or not the coffee industry
should be similarly treated.
This short historical sketch would be incom-
plete without some mention of an appalling and
unique event in the history of the island. On
the 27th of August, 1883, the green-clad island
of Krakatoa, which rises for some three thousand
feet out of the waters which separate Sumatra
from Java — the Straits of Sunda — was the scene
of a most terrific volcanic discharge. Whole
towns were destroyed in both islands ; but even
more striking than the loss of human life and
property is the fact, now satisfactorily established,
that the discharge of ashes was so great as to
cause a series of extraordinarily brilliant sunsets
all over the world, while the force of the tidal
wave was such as to affect the level of the water
in the river Thames. In travelling from Batavia
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT. 13
to Singapore, I was fortunate enough to meet
with an officer in the employ of the Nether-
lands India Steamship Company, who was able
to give me an actual narrative of his personal
experience of this wonderful eruption. Mr. S
was at that time second engineer on the steam-
ship Governor-General Lowdcn, belonging to the
same company. I cannot do better than close
this chapter with his narrative.
" We were anchored off Telokbetong, in Su-
matra, when the chief officer and myself observed
a dark line out at sea which bore the appear-
ance of a tidal wave. While we were remarking
this, the captain (who was just then taking his
bath) rushed on to the bridge, and telegraphed to
the engine-room to steam slow ahead up to the
anchors. I was engaged in carrying out this
order when the wave came up to the ship. First
she dropped ; then heaved up and down for
some five minutes. There were three waves.
When I came on deck again, the long pier, which
had been crowded with Europeans who had
come out of the town (they had experienced a
14 A VISIT TO JAVA.
shock of earthquake during the night), — this pier,
the houses and offices, had disappeared, in fact,
the whole town was gone. A Government steam-
boat lying at anchor (with steam up) in the bay
was landed high on the tops of the palm trees
in company with some native boats. That was
the first intimation we received that Krakatoa
was in eruption, and from that time, eight o'clock,
onwards through the day the rumbling thunders
never ceased, while the darkness increased to a
thick impenetrable covering of smoky vapour.
Shortly after this we got under way, and pro-
ceeded until the darkness made it impossible
to go on further. It was while we were thus
enveloped in darkness that the stones and cinders
discharged by the mountain began to fall upon
the ship. In a short time the canvas awning
and the deck were covered with ashes and stones,
to the depth of two feet, and all our available
men were employed in removing the falling mass,
which would otherwise have sunk the ship. We
had a large number of natives on board, and a
hundred and sixty European soldiers. The latter
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT. 15
worked with the energy of despair at their task
of clearing the deck, in spite of the twofold danger
of being burnt and stunned by the hot falling
stones. While we were engraved in this struggle,
and enveloped in the sheer blackness of a veritable
hell, a new and terrible danger came upon us.
This was the approach of the tidal wave caused
by the final eruption, which occurred about 12.30
to 1 p.m. The wave reached us at 2 p.m. or
thereabouts, and made the ship tumble like a sea-
saw. Sometimes she was almost straight on end,
at other times she heaved over almost on her
beam-ends. We were anchored and steaming
up to our anchors as before, and as before we
managed to escape destruction. All the pas-
sengers and the crew gave themselves up for
lost, but there was no panic, and the captain
handled the ship splendidly throughout. He
received a gold medal from the Government in
recognition of his indomitable courage in saving
the ship and passengers. Well, you can fancy
what it was like when I tell you that the captain
was lashed with three ropes alongside the engine-
1 6 A VISIT TO JAVA.
room companion, while I was lashed down below
to work the engines. The men were dashed from
one side of the engine-room to the other.
" When we reached Angier we found no trace —
neither a splinter of wood nor a fraction of stone —
of the buildings of that once flourishing seaport.
At Batavia the water was so dense from the
floating lava (the deposit reached fifteen feet in
depth) that we made our way to the shore on
planks. Telokbetong was closed for three or
four months, and on our return to Achin we
could not land our passengers. At Batavia the
tidal wave had penetrated almost to the town,
where in the lower portion the houses were
flooded by the Kali Bezar (great river). Business
was suspended except by a few determined
spirits who worked on by gaslight, so great was
the alarm at the darkness and thunderous noises."
( n )
CHAPTER II.
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS.
Area — Climate — Permission to travel — Chief objects of interest
— Means of locomotion — Language — Hotels.
Of the many travellers who have written
accounts of their visits to Java, not one has
been explicit in his directions as to the ways
and means of reaching the various interesting
objects which he has described. This may partly
be accounted for by the fact that there are,
indeed, no Titanic difficulties to be encountered.
The districts to be traversed are furnished with
excellent roads, and in part with railways, contain
large and civilized towns, and are inhabited by
a peaceable and industrious population. The
difficulties, such as they are, can be overcome
by the two necessaries for all except the most
2
1 8 A VISIT TO JAVA.
hackneyed excursions — time and money. In
Java the former is, if anything, more important
than the latter.
Java — with which is included for all purposes
the little island of Madura, lying off its north-
eastern coast — is a long narrow island six
degrees south of the equator. It is 630
miles long, and averages 100 miles in breadth.
Its area is 51,961 square miles, an extent
slightly greater than that of England ; and the
present population reaches a total of twenty-three
millions. Like all the islands of the Malay
Archipelago, its surface is diversified by great
mountains (generally volcanic) and extensive
plains. It is poorly supplied with minerals;
coal is there, but not in workable quantities ;
perhaps the only valuable mineral products are
the clay, which is made into bricks, earthenware,
and porcelain, and the deposits of salt in the
Government mines.
On the other hand, the soil is proverbially
fertile. The chief products are best exhibited
in connection with the four botanical zones into
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS.
19
which Junghuhn has divided the island according
to elevation :
Tropical.
I. From the seaboard
to 2000 feet.
II. From 2000 feet to
4500 feet.
III. From 4500 feet to
7500 feet.
IV. From 7500 feet to
12,000 feet.
Moderately hot.
Moderately cool.
Cold.
Rice, sugar, cin-
namon, cotton,
maize.
Coffee, tea, cin-
chona, sugar-
palm.
Indian corn, to-
bacco, cabbage,
potatoes.
European flora.
The climate varies in accordance with these
zones. Observations made at Batavia (on the
coast), the only place where a record covering
a sufficient period has been kept, give a mean
of /S^c/ for a period of twelve years. The
monthly mean shows a variation of only two
degrees. The period from April to November,
when the south-east trade winds prevail, called
the dry or east monsoon, is slightly warmer
than the remaining six months which make up
the rainy season. The heaviest rainfall is in
the months of December, January, and February.
The chief characteristic of the climate of Java
is, therefore, not so much its heat as its equability :
it is rarely wet all day long even in the wet
20 A VISIT TO JAVA.
season, and at least one shower may be expected
each day in the dry.
In spite of its great heat Java is generally
healthy, and, in cases of simple bronchitis, the
climate is positively helpful. Of course the
mountain districts are preferable to the plains,
but in the ordinary routes traversed by travellers
there are no conditions to be encountered which
are adverse to persons in the enjoyment of
ordinary health. Buitenzorg (close to Batavia),
the summer residence of the Governor-General, a
place which is to Dutch India what Simla is
to British India, is especially healthy, being
some seven hundred feet above sea-level. Tosari,
again, in the eastern part of the island,, is a
recognized sanatorium. It has a capital hotel,
and lies at an elevation of six thousand feet above
sea-level. This latter place is easily reached
in one day from Soerabaia ; and close by is
Mount Bromo, one of the most active volcanoes
in Java, and one which is always covered with
smoke. A three-mile walk will give the visitor
an opportunity of seeing the boiling crater — a
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS. 21
magnificent spectacle. Mount S'meroe, the
highest mountain in Java (12,000 feet), is also
in the neighbourhood.
The best time to travel is the dry season,
April to November, when the nights are cooler
and the weather brighter ; and, of course, in
travelling by carriage, arrangements should be
made to avoid proceeding during the hottest
part of the day as much as possible.
The Dutch are nothing if they are not
methodical, and in order to travel in Java certain
formalities, which at first sight appear somewhat
formidable, but which are really matters of form,
have to be gone through. Any person intending
to remain in the island for more than twenty-
four hours must register his name with the
police, and give them particulars of his age,
birthplace, profession, last place of residence,
the ship in which he arrived, and the name of its
captain. He thereupon receives a document en-
titled Toetlakings-kaart (" admission ticket "),
which states that the person so named and
described arrived at a certain date, "with the
2 2 A VISIT TO JAVA.
intention of residing in Netherlands India," and
that he is permitted, " by authority of the
ordinance of March 12, 1872, to reside in any
of the chief harbours or ports open for general
trade, and also at Buitenzorg." It is signed by
the Assistant- Resident of Batavia. This "ad-
mission-ticket " is not sufficient to authorize the
new arrival to travel in the interior. For this
purpose a second and still more imposing docu-
ment must be obtained. This is an extract from
the register of "decisions" of the Governor-
General, and is to the effect that the petition
of the undersigned So-and-so has been read, and
" that the Governor-General has been pleased
to grant him permission to travel for six months
T "
in Java.
If the visitor wishes to enjoy any sport he
will require a third document, signed by the
Resident, to entitle him to " import the following
weapon and ammunition, namely," his gun, "which
is intended for his own use." It will be a relief
to the reader to know that in my own case the
documents confirming the grant of all these
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS. 23
privileges were obtained at the cost of half a
crown for stamps.
Batavia, the capital of Java and the seat of
government of the Dutch possessions in the East,
is distant two hundred and fifty miles from Sama-
rang, and four hundred from Soerabaia, the ports
which respectively " tap " the populous central
and eastern districts. While these two latter
towns are connected by rail with each other,
communication with Batavia is maintained at
present by steamboats and post-carriages, since
there is a break of one hundred and twenty miles
— from Garoet, the terminus of the western
railway, to Tjilatjap, a port on the southern
coast — in the trunk line which is eventually to
unite the whole island. Batavia, however, in
spite of this drawback, is the natural starting-
point for the visitor. In the first place, it is the
port of call of the principal steamboat companies
which connect Java with Australia, British India,
China, and Europe ; and in the next, being the
seat of government and containing the chief
political and scientific authorities, it is the centre
24 A VISIT TO JAVA.
from which information and assistance of all
kinds may be obtained. In particular, I would
recommend a visit to the museum of antiquities
at Batavia as an introduction to the study not
only of the Hindu remains, but also of the native
industries and manner of life.
The subjects of special interest in Java may
be grouped under five heads — the Hindu anti-
quities, the native towns, the plantations, tropical
plant-life, and sport. In the case of the three
latter, the several neighbourhoods required to
be visited are easily accessible from Batavia by
the western railway. Soekaboemi, the centre
of the coffee and cinchona plantations, and the
head-quarters of the Planters' Association, is
fifty miles distant. Buitenzorg, with its famous
botanical gardens, is within an hour and a halfs
journey. Here, in the various Government gar-
dens and plantations, the plant-life of the whole
Malay Archipelago is conveniently exhibited, both
in its scientific and industrial aspects, and a
strangers' laboratory is specially provided for
scientific visitors. The Preanger Regencies — the
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS. 2$
best place for sport — may be described roughly
as occupying the southern half of the western
portion of the island. The chief towns of this
district — Tjandjoer, Bandong, and Garoet — are
all connected with Batavia by the same line of
railway. Of these, Tjandjoer is the residence
of the native prince, the Regent of Tjandjoer,
who is the chief patron of horse-racing in Java.
But the largest of the native towns and those
in the neighbourhood of which the most im-
portant of the Hindu remains are to be found,
such as Soerabaia, Samarang, Solo, Djokja, and
Mao-alanor are situated in the centre and east
of the island. As I have before explained, the
western and eastern railways are not yet con-
nected, and therefore the railway alone will no
longer be sufficient to convey the traveller to
his basis of operations. In planning his journey
to these towns he will have to weiofh the rela-
tive advantages of three routes, and to con-
sider the opportunities offered by three means
of locomotion — railway, steamboat, and post-
carriage.
26 A VISIT TO JAVA.
In another place* I have given in detail, with
full information as to distances and expenses, the
three possible routes to the temples from Batavia,
and therefore I need speak here only in general
terms.
The principal coast towns can be reached by
the steamships of the Netherlands India Company
(or its successor), which average about iooo tons,
and are said to be fairly comfortable. As the
fares are comparatively high, most people will
prefer to avoid the discomforts incidental to a
steamboat, augmented by the conditions of the
place — natives and strange food. In travelling
by road very considerable fatigue must be under-
gone, and of course the expense is greater than
that incurred in travelling by rail or steamboat.
Also, as in such travelling smaller towns and less-
known districts are traversed, it is especially
desirable to have a " boy," or native servant (who
can talk English), to communicate with the natives
in the Javanese and Sundanese dialects, since in
the out-of-the-way districts Malay is not under-
* Appendix.
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS. 2 J
stood. The railways are much the same as else-
where, except that the rate of travelling is slower
and the cost of travelling rather more than usual.
As part of the railways are held by private com-
panies, there is a slight variation in both of these
particulars on different lines. The construction
of railways in Java began in 1875. Ten years
later there were 261 miles of private, and 672
miles of Government, railways open for traffic.
Since then this extent has been increased, but in
1 89 1 the railway system was still incomplete, by
reason of the gap between Garoet and Tjilatjap.
There is another important consideration which
will affect the choice of routes and of means of
conveyance, and that is the question of language.
The natives in the big towns and all servants in
hotels and private houses speak Malay, which is
the official language for communication between
them and the Europeans. There is always sup-
posed to be one man in each native village (or
campong) who can speak this language. Malay
handbooks are published in Singapore, and
although such books cannot be bought, as far as I
28 A VISIT TO JAVA.
know, in Batavia, they can often be borrowed ; or,
failing this, a few necessary phrases can be written
down. Such a phrase, for example, as this : Apa
nama inif ("What is the name of this ? ") will serve
to supply the place of many vocabularies. The
language, which from its soft sounding has been
called " the Italian of the Tropics," is very simple,
and seems to consist almost exclusively of nouns
{i.e. substantives, adjectives, and pronouns). The
verb " to be " and prepositions are often omitted,
e.g. Pighi bawa ini Titan X — = " Go [and] take
this [to] Mr. X — — ; " and most substantives can
be formed into verbs. Combinations of substan-
tives are used ; e.g. Kreta api (" fire-carriages ") =
" railway." Again, many European words are
adopted bodily. In sadoe a Frenchman will easily
recognize a corruption of dos-a-dos ; ayer brandy
(or ay 'er whisky), literally " water-brandy," will pre-
sent no difficulties to the average Englishman.
" Butter " is mentega, a Portuguese word. The
vowels have the same value as in the Continental
langaia^es.*
* The combination oe is pronounced u (or oo).
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS. 29
It is obvious that the few words and phrases
necessary for everyday life can be easily acquired
in such a language, and most people will find the
process rather amusing than otherwise. If, how-
ever, it is desired to escape this trouble, or to
gain a more complete knowledge of the ideas of
the natives, a " boy " who speaks English can be
secured at Batavia, who will act as valet and in-
terpreter.* In communicating with the Dutch
residents and the European shop-people in the
towns, there is no difficulty experienced, since
nearly every one can speak English ; if not,
recourse can be had to French or German.
In addition to obtaining the formal permission
to travel already mentioned, in order to see native
ceremonies and enjoy big-game shooting, it is
necessary to get recommendations to the resi-
dents of the native regencies, and in any case
* The cost of such a " boy " is very small (labour being
one thing which is cheap in the island). He is paid from 16
to 18 florins (12 florins = £1) a month; and when travelling
it is usual to give him a half-florin a day for food, otherwise
the hotel charge for servants, one florin a day, must be
paid.
30 A VISIT TO JAVA.
it is desirable to have as many private intro-
ductions as possible.
But, however well supplied with such recom-
mendations they may be, all travellers are sure to
be more or less dependent on hotels. In Java,
as in other tropical countries, the hotels are large
one or two storied buildings, with rows of rooms
opening upon broad verandahs screened with
bamboo blinds, and arranged round courtyards
planted with trees. The general living-room and
the dining-room have one or more sides open
to the air, and are arranged with a view to
coolness. The style of cooking in Dutch India
is different from that in British India, and has
one special peculiarity the — rice table, which will
be described hereafter ; and of course there are
minor differences, depending upon the conditions
of the place and society. To persons who are
prepared to enjoy life (and this is the spirit in
which one should travel), the little eccentricities
and deficiencies will be a source of amusement,
and give additional zest to the travelling ex-
perience. But no invalid or dyspeptic should
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS. 3 I
enter the portals of a Javan hotel. As for
accommodation, suites of rooms can be engaged,
but the ordinary traveller has a large bedroom
with the proportion of the verandah belonging to
it ; this latter is fitted with a bamboo screen,
table and chairs, and a hanging lamp, and is for
all intents and purposes a sitting-room. The
bedroom also is furnished with a view of
securing coolness ; the floor is covered with
matting, and the furniture is not very luxurious ;
its chief feature is a tremendous bedstead. Now,
a Javan bedstead is quite sui generis, and requires
a ground plan. The ordinary size is six feet
square. It is completely covered with mosquito
curtains, and has no clothes, the broad expanse
being broken by two pillows for the head and
a long bolster (called a Dutch wife) which lies
at right angles to the pillows. This latter is
one of the numerous contrivances for securing-
coolness. The ordinary routine of hotel life is
much the same as elsewhere in the island. At
half-past six a coolie comes to the door and
awakes you, bringing tea or coffee when you
^2 A VISIT TO JAVA.
3
want it. Some time subsequently you proceed
in pyjamas, or (if a lady) in a kabaia (or loose
jacket) and sarong (native dress) to the bath-
room, which is an important feature in every
Eastern hotel. Generally speaking, it is not so
very much removed from what Mr. Ruskin
would desire. It is a large room with bare
walls and a marble floor, on which is placed a
cistern or jar of water, from which water is taken
with a hand-bucket and poured over the bather,
who stands upon a wooden framework. The
water runs away from the edges of the room,
but I never felt quite sure that it didn't come
back again afterwards. The walls are sometimes
decorated with mirrors, and there is often an
arrangement for a shower-bath. But very
generally the bather has nothing but bare walls
and a huge earthen jar such as Aladdin and
the forty thieves would use at Drury Lane.
At Singapore this same arrangement obtains,
and there it is related that a young midshipman,
going to the bath-room and being confronted by
a bare interior with nothing but the big jar in
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS. y 3
the middle of it, very naturally concluded that
this was the bath. He quickly stripped and got
into it ; but once in he found it impossible to get
out again. After vain endeavours, he rolled the
big jar over bodily, and, smashing it on the floor,
triumphantly emerged from the fragments. His
friends afterwards pointed out to him that there
was a hand-bucket there, and enlightened him as
to its uses.
Breakfast consists of light breads, eggs, cold
meat in thin strips, and fruit, and is served about
nine. After breakfast any serious business should
be accomplished before the great heat of the day
sets in. At 12.30 rice-table (or tiffin)commences.
This is a serious meal, and must carry you on till
eight o'clock in the evening. The first dish, or
rather series of dishes, is that from which the
meal takes its name — rice-table. In partaking of
this the visitor first places some boiled rice upon
a soup plate, and then on the top of it as many
portions of some eight or ten dishes which are
immediately brought as he cares to take — omelette,
curry, chicken, fish, macaroni, spice-pudding, etc. ;
3
34 A VISIT TO JAVA.
and, lastly, he selects some strange delicacies
from an octagonal dish with several kinds of pre-
pared vegetables, pickled fish, etc., in its nine
compartments. After this comes a salad, some
solid meat (such as beefsteak), sweets, and fruit.
Finger-glasses are always provided, and one
notices that the salt is always moist, and also
that it is not customary to provide spoons for
that article. At four, or thereabouts, tea is
brought to your room. This serves to rouse you
from your siesta, and you then proceed (being by
this time again in pyjamas) to take your second
bath. After that, European garments are worn,
and it is cool enough either for driving or walk-
ing. The dinner, which is served at eight, is
much like an ordinary a la Russe dinner, except
that there are rather more small vegetable dishes
than is customary elsewhere.
In the Hotel der Nederlanden at Batavia (and
there are plenty of others like it) there is some-
thing of the life which is described as belonging
to the baths in ancient Roman watering-places.
Imagine a long courtyard, with deep verandahs,
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS. 35
trees only screening you from the opposite side ;
around you men in pyjamas, with their feet rest-
ing on the arms of their easy-chairs, smoking
or taking various iced drinks from long glasses ;
ladies dressed in the beautiful native crarment
o
(the sarong) and the lace-trimmed white jacket
(the kabaia), promenading with children. Oppo-
site you is a little Dutch maiden, whose golden
hair and white skin contrasts with the dark com-
plexion of her baboe, or nurse. She is dressed in a
flowing white robe, and is putting on her stockings
in the most negligd attitude, for it is now time to
go out — 4 p.m. — while her mother stands by and
scolds her. Everywhere coolies are squatting on
the ground in their bright garments, or standing
busied with the ordinary duties of service, and
baboes are playing with their little charges. You
are yourself dressed in such a way that you
would probably feel uncomfortable were you dis-
covered so dressed in your dressing-room at
home ; but here you feel perfectly at ease — such
is the magical effect of climate — whether prome-
nading in your loose garments or reclining in
36 A VISIT TO JAVA.
your easy-chair and gazing coolly upon the occu-
pants of the carriages which cross the courtyard.
Or perhaps you are engaged in a chaffing-match
with one of the native vendors — Chinese, Malay,
or Javanese — who are ever ready to persuade
you to buy the commonest trifles at the most
fancy prices.
The native servants are very quick and willing
to do the visitor's commands ; indeed, disasters
generally arise from an excess of diligence on
their part. For instance, in a damp climate it is
an excellent general rule for your "boy" to keep
your clothes aired by laying them in the sun two
or three times a week ; but it is a trifle embarrass-
ing to a modest and impecunious person to see
the whole of his wardrobe exhibited urbi et orbi
in front of his room on the verandah. The
pyjamas, suspended in airy fashion, floating in the
wind ; the coats and trousers hung up on strips of
wood so that their full extent is exposed to the
sun and air ; the pair of pumps, on which only last
night he had congratulated himself as looking
quite smart by gaslight, now standing confessed
TRAVELLING AND HOTELS.
37
in all the unseemliness of bulging sides and torn
lining ; even the domestic slippers too. Yet such
was the scene which met my gaze as I returned
from breakfast at nine o'clock in the courtyard of
the Hotel Belle Vue at Buitenzong. Trop de zele,
I thought.
CHINESE BARBER.
^8 A VISIT TO JAVA.
o
CHAPTER III.
THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES.
Dutch possessions in the East — Government — Army and navy
— Administration — Development of natives — Raden Saleh
— Native dress — Cooking and houses — Rice cultivation —
Amusements — Marriage ceremony.
The Netherlands India, as the Dutch possessions
in the East are officially styled, includes the
whole of the Malay Archipelago, with the ex-
ception of the Philippine Islands belonging to
Spain, part of Borneo in the possession of the
North Borneo Company, and the eastern half
of New Guinea, which is shared by Germany
and England. The total area is officially stated
to be 719,674 square miles, and the total popu-
lation 29,765,031. It is administered by a
Governor-General, a Government secretary, and
a Council of State consisting of five members,
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 39
who are appointed from among the chief Dutch
residents in the island of Java. As all matters of
general policy are controlled by the Secretary for
the Colonies, who is a member of the Home
Government, the functions of the Colonial Go-
vernment are mainly executive and consultative.
So close is the connection that the colonial esti-
mates for revenue and expenditure have to receive
the approval of the Home Government before
they can be carried out. Moreover, the various
Government officials scattered through the Archi-
pelago are responsible to the Secretary for the
Colonies. There are colleges established both in
Holland and in Batavia in which the young men
intended for the colonial service can receive a
suitable training.
The physical sanction upon which the Dutch
authority rests is an army of thirty thousand men,
composed of Dutch, Germans, Swiss, Italians,
and natives, but officered exclusively by Dutch-
men, and a navy of fifty ships. Of these troops,
a large proportion (amounting in 1891 to 16,537)
are native. The head-quarters of the army
4-0 A VISIT TO JAVA.
is fixed at Batavia. There are barracks at
Weltevreden, and at Meester Cornells in the
capital, and additional accommodation has been
recently provided at Buitenzorg. The fleet is
stationed at Soerabaia, a town which possesses
the best harbour in Java, and which is con-
veniently situated at the other end of the island.
There are, however, a few ships always stationed
at Batavia. The greater proportion of the fleet
is composed of the ships of the Netherlands
Indian navy, which is permanently stationed in
the Archipelago ; but there are among them
some ships belonging to the Dutch navy, which
are relieved every three years.
At the present time, the chief occupation of the
colonial forces is the establishment of the Dutch
authority in Sumatra. Since 1874 the natives of
Achin have successfully resisted the Dutch, and
the Achin war has proved so costly and so
disastrous, that the Home Government have
ordered the operations of the troops to be con-
fined to such as are purely defensive. Acting
under these instructions, the colonial forces have
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 4 1
retired behind a chain of forts, and all attempts
to advance into the interior have been abandoned.
Last year (1891), Baron Mackay, the Secretary
for the Colonies, was able to assure the States
General that " excellent results were expected
from the blockade system," now adopted, and
that the Achinese were already beginning to feel
the inconvenience of being cut off from their
supplies of necessaries, such as opium and tobacco.
Java is by far the most important of the islands
of the Malay Archipelago. Its population is
four times that of the total population of the
remaining Dutch possessions in the East. This
population is divided as follows (1890) : —
Other
Europeans. Chinese. Arabs. Orientals. Natives. Total.
48,783 237,577 13,943 1806 22,765,977 23,064,086
With the exception of the Chinese, the great
retail traders of the Malay countries, almost the
entire population of the island is " native." This
term includes various branches of the Malay race,
of which the chiefs are the Javanese and Sundanese,
occupying respectively the east and west of the
42 A VISIT TO JAVA.
island. Separate dialects are also spoken by the
people of Bantam and Madura. There is little
to distinguish the two chief races, except that the
Javanese are more warlike and spirited than the
Sundanese, who are somewhat more dull and
almost entirely agricultural. Speaking generally,
the native population of Java is but little inferior
in intelligence to the native population of India,
while in some respects — in particular, in the
readiness shown by the native princes to assimi-
late European learning and customs, and in a
certain artistic sensibility manifested by the whole
people — they resemble the inhabitants of Japan.
The majority of the Javanese natives are
employed in the cultivation of rice ; in work on
plantations, sugar, coffee, cinchona, and tea ; and
in various lesser industries, such as the making of
mats and weaving of sarongs. They are also by
no means unskilful as workers in clay, wood, and
metals, and as artisans generally, and are success-
fully employed by the Government in working
the railways and post and telegraph services.
For purposes of administration the island is
3fr 5
'A • eJ
>
•1 "7.
\
\.
y**6
Z
fc.
o
w
<
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 43
divided into twenty-four residencies. Each resi-
dency is further divided into districts, and finally
into campongs, or townships. It will be remem-
bered that when, at the end of the eighteenth
century, the Dutch Government took over the
island from the East India Company, they
received possession of the soil, subject only to
such limitations as the company had already im-
posed upon their ownership. Since that time
the Colonial Government has pursued a policy
in Java similar to that pursued by the British in
India, by which the native princes have been
gradually induced to part with their territorial
rights and privileges, and to accept in return
proportionate monetary compensations. At the
same time the services of these " princes " have
been utilized in the work of government. As a
result of this latter, the sums paid originally as
incomes equivalent to the revenues derived from
the rights surrendered have now come to be of
the nature of official salaries. Most of these
regents, as the native princes are called, receive
from two to three thousand florins a year ; but
44 A VISIT TO JAVA.
some one or two, such as the Sultan of Djokja,
and the Regent of Bandong, receive as much as
seventy or eighty thousand florins. The Dutch
have wisely employed as much as possible the
social organization which they found in existence,
and native authorities and institutions have been
supplemented by European officials. In each
residency there is, therefore, a double set of
officials, European and native. First of all, there
is the Resident, who resides at the chief town, and
is the head of all officials, European and native.
Under him there are Assistant-Residents, contro-
leurs, and assistant-controleurs. The controleur
is an official more especially connected with the
Government plantations, and the regulation of the
industrial relations between the planters and the
peasants, or coolies, is an important duty which
he fulfils. The Regent is the head of the native
officials, but of course inferior in authority to the
Resident, whom he calls his " Elder Brother."
Under him is an officer called a patzh, and then
wedanas, assistant-wedanas, and ultimately the
village chiefs, or loerahs. In addition to these
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 45
there is a further official called a jaksa, who
ranks above the wedanas, and receives informa-
tion of any offences committed. In the villages
the loerahs act as policemen, but in the towns
there are regular native policemen, called oppas,
who also attend on the wedanas. In each
residency there is a court of justice, consisting
of a president, who is a paid legal official, a clerk
of the court, and a pangoeloe, or priest, for ad-
ministering oaths. In this court the jaksa sits as
native assessor to the European judge-president.
There are superior courts at the three great
towns, Batavia, Samarang, and Soerabaia, and a
supreme court at Batavia. Murder and crimes
of violence are generally rare, but small thieving
is common throughout the island.
The religion of the Javanese is Mohammedan-
ism; although Brahmanism still survives in some
of the islands of the Archipelago, it has entirely
disappeared from Java. Until recent years the
Colonial Government have discouraged any efforts
directed towards the conversion of the natives to
Christianity. The quietism of the Mohammedan
46 A VISIT TO JAVA.
creed was regarded as better adapted to supply
their religious needs than the doctrines of the
missionaries.
Of late years, however, a more generous policy
has prevailed. As the mass of the Javanese
regard the native princes as traitors and apostates,
the Arab priests and hadjis have come to be
recognized as the popular leaders. It is they,
and not the princes, who now form the dangerous
element. The priests are jealous of European
influence, and are ready to incite the natives to
revolt if occasion offers, but in any outbreak the
native princes are the first to be attacked. A
revolt in Bantam had occurred some twelve
months before the date of my visit (1890). In
return for some injustice, the Resident and his
wife and children were put to death by mutilation.
The village in which this took place was near
Serang, the capital town of Bantam, and only
seventy miles from Batavia, and military assist-
ance was obtained from both of these places.
The troops from Serang arrived in time to find
the body of the Resident's wife still heaving with
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 47
the action of breathing. Fifty or sixty of the
natives were brought to justice for this murder,
and six of the ringleaders were shot. I was told
that there were numerous secret societies existing
in the country, controlled by the Mohammedan
authorities in Arabia, and absolutely hidden
beyond the reach of the Government.*
The question of the moral and mental develop-
ment of the Javanese natives is one which has
lately been much discussed, both in Java and in
Holland, and the result has been that the Colonial
Government is now fairly pledged to a humani-
tarian policy. The large sum annually appro-
priated in the colonial budget to the purposes of
public instruction, is a sufficient evidence of the
reality of the desire now manifested by the
Dutch to give the natives of Java full oppor-
tunities for the education and training necessary
* At the time of writing I have come across the following
paragraph in the Java news column of the Singapore Free Press
for February 23, 1892 : "The Nieuwsblad notes the arrival of a
Turk from Singapore in the Sfentor, who is suspected of having
the intention to stir up the natives of Java. The police arc-
paying attention to him."
48 A VISIT TO JAVA.
for technical and industrial progress. There can
be no doubt as to the capacity of the natives to
benefit by such advantages. When D'Almeida
visited the island thirty years ago, he paid a visit
to Raden Saleh, a native artist, who had been
sent to Holland to be educated there at the
expense of the Colonial Government. He had
lived for twenty-three years in Europe, residing
both in that country and in Germany, and follow-
ing the profession of an artist. He was chiefly
distinguished as an animal-painter, and made
such progress in art that he was commissioned
by the late Prince Consort to paint two pictures
for him, illustrative of Javan life and scenery.
Raden Saleh subsequently returned to his native
country, and D'Almeida found him residing in
an artistically furnished house with large and
beautiful gardens near Batavia. In the course
of this visit he was asked whether there were
any other Javan artists who had attained similar
proficiency. He replied, " Cafe et sucre, sucre
et cafe, sont tout-ce qu'on parle ici. C'est vrai-
ment un air triste pour un artiste."
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 49
The artistic perception inborn in the Javan
natives is nowhere more clearly manifested than
in the colour and form of their dress. Nothing
impresses the visitor more quickly or more
pleasantly than the gay and graceful groups
which throng the streets or roads. The light
cottons and silken cloths which the natives wear
are admirably suited to the climate, and an
exquisite taste seems to govern the selection of
colours and the fashion of wearing their garments.
Both men and women alike wear the sarong, a
long decorated cloth wound round the lower limbs
and fastened at the waist ; over this the former
wear a badjoe, or short open jacket, and the latter a
kabaia, or cloak, closed at the waist by a silver pin
(peniti), and reaching down almost to the bottom
of the sarong. Over the right shoulder is grace-
fully flung a long scarf called a slendang, used by
mothers to carry their babies, and by the men as
a belt when they are engaged in any active work.
A square cloth (kain kapala) is worn on the head
by men ; it is folded in half diagonally, and then
folded over and round the head until it looks
4
50 A VISIT TO JAVA.
much like a turban. On the top of this a wide
straw hat (variously shaped) is carried, to protect
the wearer against the sun. The women, on the
contrary, wear nothing but their glossy black hair,
or carry a bamboo umbrella if they wish for
a similar protection.
The native weapons are the bamboo spear, and
the short wavy sword called a kriss ; but the only
arm they carry nowadays is a golok, or straight
piece of iron with a handle and sheath, used for
lopping off boughs and cutting wood. The better
class of natives use European furniture, but the
ordinary peasants and artisans, who live in a
bamboo cottage, use nothing but a single bed on
which the whole family sleep, and a chest for
clothes, both made, like the house, of bamboo.
The staple diet is rice and dried fish, with
vegetables and fruits : cakes and pastry are rare
luxuries, and purchased at the market or from
itinerant vendors. The cooking arrangements
are very simple. Nearly everything is cooked in
a priok, or frying-pan, which is heated over a
kompor, or stove of earthenware, or on bricks on a
WOMAN COOKING RICE.
KOMPOR.
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 5 [
flat stove raised from the ground. In both cases
charcoal is burnt, being made to burn brightly by
a fan. The rice (which is to them what bread is to
us) is not boiled, but steamed. A copper vessel
{dang-dang) is filled with hot water, and the rice is
then placed in a cone-shaped bamboo basket
(koekoesan), which is placed point downwards into
the vessel and covered with a bamboo or earthen-
ware top (kekep). The dang-dang is then placed
over the fire either in the kompor or on the bricks.
Rice culture is the natural pursuit of the Java-
nese or Sundanese native. Coffee, sugar, and tea
he cultivates on compulsion for wages with which
to pay his taxes. Now the land of Java is divided
into two classes, land capable of being inundated
by streams or rivers called sawah, and land not
so inundated called tegal, or gaga. On the latter
only the less important crops, such as mountain
rice or Indian corn, are grown. On sawah land
the rice is grown in terraces, which are so
arranged that, without any machinery for raising
or cisterns for storing the water, a perfectly
natural and perpetual supply is gained from the
A VISIT TO JAVA.
high mountains, which serve here the same use-
ful purpose that the great river Nile does in
Egypt. The small fields are worked with the
patjoel, a sort of hoe, and the large with the
plough {wloekoe), and then inundated. After ten
or fifteen days they are hoed again, so that any
places not reached by the plough or hoe may
be laboured, and the intervening banks kept
free from weeds and consequently made porous.
The lar£e sawahs are also harrowed with the
garoe ; and, finally, small trenches are cut for the
water to flow from one terrace to another.
When the earth has thus been worked into a
mass of liquid mud, the young plants are trans,
planted from the beds in which they have been
sown about a month previously, and carefully
placed in this soft mud. Inundation is necessary
until the rice is nearly ripe, which is naturally
about August or September. It is reaped with
a short knife called ani-ani, with which the reaper
cuts off each separate ear with a few inches of
the stem ; and the ears are then threshed by
being placed in a hollow tree trunk and there
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 53
stamped with a toemboekan, a heavy piece of wood
with a broad end. The lands are ploughed,
harrowed, and weeded by the men, but the trans-
planting, reaping, and threshing is done by
women.
A curious circumstance in rice-cultivation is the
fact that side by side the crops may be seen in
each of the separate stages, planting and reaping
often going on simultaneously. Beside the rice,
a crop of beans or sweet potatoes is grown in the
year, and the flooded terraces are also utilized as
fish-tanks, in which gold-fish are grown to the
length of a foot and a half and then eaten. They
are brought to the market in water, and so kept
fresh, and, if not sold, are of course returned to
their " pastures " again.
The sawah plough is an interesting study.
It is made in three pieces — the pole {tjatjadan) ;
the handle (patjek), which fits into the iron-shod
share [singkat). To this is attached a crosspiece
or yoke (depar), fitted with a pair of long pegs
coming over the necks of the oxen or buffaloes,
and a crosspiece hanging under their necks and
54 A VISIT TO JAVA.
fastened to the yoke by native cord. The
ploughman holds the tail of the plough with
the left and the rod-whip (petjoet) with the
right hand. He drives and directs the big
lumbering beasts by words or by a touch of
the rod. To make them go "straight on," he
calls out, Gio gio kalen ; " Turn to the right " is
Ghir ngivo ; " To the left," Ghir nengen ; " Stop "
is His his ; and whenever they (or horses) incur
the displeasure of their drivers, they are in-
variably brought to a better mind by hearing
an unpronounceable exclamation something like
Uk tik.
Another natural industry in which the Javanese
are particularly skilful is the making of mats.
There are many varieties. A light sort of floor-
covering is made from the leaves of the wild
pine-apple (pandan) ; a stronger kind is the tika
Bogor, or Buitenzorg matting, which is made from
the bark of a species of palm, and which is used
to cover walls and ceilings. Beside these, matting
is made from rushes and from the cane imported
from Palembang, in Sumatra ; while for the walls
So
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SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 55
of the houses a heavy matting of bamboo strips
is used. The weaving of sarongs is practised by
the women all over Java, and the cooking and
household utensils, made both in copper ana
earthenware, indicate by their forms a consider-
able taste. The Javanese carpenters are also
very clever, and both they and the Malays are
skilful in imitating any European designs which
are handed to them. In spite, however, of this
natural aptitude for higher industries, the great
mass of the native population are compelled by
the present commercial system to remain mere
peasants. Even so the cheapness and simplicity
of the means of life prevent them from being a
joyless race. A plantation cooly generally has
two days in the week on which he does no work.
The public feasts are numerous, the chief being
the Taori Baru, or New Year, which falls at the
end of the fasting month, which varies from year
to year. In 1890 it lasted from April 21 to May
21. During- this month the chiefs and the better
class abstain from eating or smoking from sunrise
to sunset. Everv village has its market once a
56 A VISIT TO JAVA.
week or thereabouts, and after this there is
generally a wayang, or puppet show, and some
mild amusement. The wayang is the most im-
portant of the native amusements ; for the theatre
is a rare luxury, and confined chiefly to the towns
or to the courts of the native princes. It is a
very simple business — far beneath a punch-and-
judy show in point of art, but the audience watch
the puerile display for five or six hours without
intermission. The theatre consists of pantomimic
representations, with which is mingled a ballet,
the basis of which is ancient tradition. The
following story (which I have condensed from
D'Almeida's book) is a specimen. A certain
King Praboe Sindolo of Mendang Kamolan,
feeling tired of the vanities of the world, retired
to a hut, where he lived in prayer and fasting.
While thus living he was visited by a tempter,
who sought to rekindle his desire for the good
things of this life. Thereupon Praboe sent for
a large bird and four vestal virgins to defend him
against the evil spirit. By a miracle he trans-
formed himself into a flower, around which the
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 57
vestal virgins danced. By chance, however, a
princess passed that way, and, seeing a vase with
beautiful flowers therein, she chose and gathered
one, which she carried to her home. This she
placed in water, when, to her surprise, it suddenly
was transformed into a young and graceful man.
Even as she had cared for him did Praboe care
for her, and forthwith he became her lover, and
cared nothing any longer for the fasting and the
cave.
Much of the Javan festivity is connected with
the marriage ceremony, which is always an occa-
sion of feasting, greater or less, in proportion to
the wealth of the bride and bridegroom. There
is a procession and music, but the actual cere-
mony is very simple, although the accessory
festivities appear to be capable of almost in-
definite extension. Barrington D'Almeida, who
visited the island in 1861, thus describes the
scene * which he witnessed in a house filled with
guests : —
" On either side of the front room, on white
* " Life in Java."
58 A VISIT TO JAVA.
Samarang mats, were seated the elders of the
village, priests, various friends, relations, and
acquaintances, all squatted cross-legged. Cups of
tea, a la Chinoise — that is, without milk or sugar —
were placed on handsome trays before each guest,
as well as betel nuts, cakes, a quantity of rokos,
and other native delicacies. . . . Followed by
several of the guests, we entered another room,
which was very gaudily decorated, and furnished
with a low bed, the curtains of which were of
white calico, ornamented with lace, gold, silver,
beads, and coloured bits of silk. At the foot of
this bed was a platform, raised about half a foot
from the ground, on which was spread a spotless
white mat, with several bronze trays containing
cakes, etc. Whilst we were inspecting this apart-
ment we were startled by the din of voices,
followed by the sound of music, which, from its
peculiar character, was too near to be agreeable.
' The bride is come,' said Drahman. The crowd
was so great that it was some minutes before we
could catch a glimpse of her. Our curiosity was
at length gratified, while they were pouring water
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 59
upon her small naked feet. After this ceremony
an elderly man, who, I was informed, was one
of her relatives, carried her in his arms to the
inner room, and placed her on the platform,
where she sat down on the left side of the bride-
groom, who had followed her in. She had a
rather pleasing expression, but was much dis-
figured by a yellow dye, with which her face,
neck, shoulders, and arms were covered, and
which effectually concealed her blushes.
" Her dress was very simple, consisting of a
long sarong of fine batek, passing under both
arms and across the chest, so that, though her
shoulders were quite naked, her bosom was
modestly covered. This garment reached nearly
down to the young bride's ankles, and was con-
fined round the waist by a silver ' pinding.' Her
hair was arranged in the usual Javanese style,
with the addition that on the knob at the back
of the head rested a kind of crown made of beads
and flowers.
" On the left side of the girl sat an old, haggard-
looking woman, the waksie, or bridesmaid, on
6o A VISIT TO JAVA.
whose shoulders, according to the wedding eti-
quette of the Javanese, rests no small share of
the responsibility. . * . . She is expected to adorn
the bride in the most attractive manner, so as
to please her husband and the assembled guests ;
and she superintends all the ceremonies during
the celebration of the wedding. . . . The bride-
groom, like his bride, was yellow-washed down
to the waist ; his eyebrows were blackened and
painted to a point ; he wore a variegated batek
sarong, fastened round the waist with a bright
silk scarf, through the folds of which glittered the
gilt hilt of a kriss. His hair fell on his back in
long thick masses, whilst a conical-shaped hat,
made of some material resembling patent leather,
was placed on the top of his head. On one side
of him was seated his waksie, or best man, a boy
dressed very much like himself. I was told that
the parents of the young couple were absent, as,
according to the usual custom in this country,
their presence is not expected at the wedding
ceremony."
It is interesting to know that the ceremony by
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND THE NATIVES. 6 1
which the marriage tie is dissolved is as simple
as the marriage ceremony is elaborate. All that
is necessary is the consent of the parties ; no
discredit is involved nor any suffering incurred,
and the Arab priest performs the divorce service
for a sum so trifling as half a florin ! Probably
the cheapness of food, and the ease with which
life can be supported generally in such a country
and climate, is the cause of this laxity of the
marriage tie. As a Mohammedan, a Javan
peasant is permitted to have as many as four
wives, but he can rarely afford more than one,
or two at the most.
A SAWAH PLOUGH.
62 A VISIT TO JAVA.
CHAPTER IV.
BATAVIA.
Tanjong Priok — Sadoes — Batavia — Business quarter — Tele-
phoning — Chinese Campong — Weltevreden — Waterloo
Plain — Peter Elberfeld's house — Raffles and Singapore.
When the prosperity of the Dutch East India
Company was at its height, the city of Batavia*
was justly entitled the " Queen of the East."
Apart from the fact that this place was the centre
and head-quarters of the company, it was the
emporium through which the whole commerce
* " Not many years later (i.e. than 1602, the date of Wolfert's
victory over the Portuguese Admiral Mendoza), at the distance
of a dozen leagues from Bantam, a congenial swamp was
fortunately discovered in a land whose volcanic peaks rose two
miles in the air, and here a town duly laid out with canals and
bridges, and trim gardens and stagnant pools, was baptized by
the ancient and well-beloved name of Good Meadow, or Batavia,
which it bears to this day " (Motley, " United Netherlands ").
BAT AVI A. 63
of the East passed to and from Europe. The
Dutch possessions of Ceylon, the Cape of Good
Hope, and the Moluccas depended for their
supplies on Java. Not only were the European
imports, iron, broadcloth, glass-ware, velvets,
wines, gold lace, furniture, and saddlery destined
for these settlements received here in the first
instance, but similar imports intended for China,
Cochin, Japan, and the Malay islands were also
reshipped from this port into the native boats
which conveyed them to those several countries.
Similarly, the wealth of China and the East was
first collected upon the wharfs of Batavia before
it was finally despatched to the various ports of
Europe and America.
Since the foundation of the town, the sea-
shore has silted up to such an extent that the
original harbour of Batavia, in which the
Dutch East Indiamen of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries lay at anchor, has been
abandoned, and a new port has been con-
structed at a point six miles to the eastward.
The harbour works at Tanjong Priok, as the
64 A VISIT TO JAVA.
present port of Batavia is called, and the railway
which connects the port and town of Batavia, are
one among many improvements set on foot in
the island since the inauguration of a public-works
policy by the Colonial Government in 1875.
Ocean steamships of 4000 and 5000 tons burden
can now be berthed at these wharfs, and there
is a constant and convenient service of trains
between the port and the town. Even to-day
the presence of superannuated Dutch warships
and quaint craft from China and the Malay
islands relieves the monotony of the vast hulls
of the steamships of the British India, the
Messageries Maritimes, and the Netherlands
India Companies.
I was agreeably surprised at the size and con-
venience of the station at Tanjong Priok. The
booking clerk, who was, I think, a Chinaman,
seemed to know the ways of strangers, and I and
my fellow-passengers had no difficulty in taking
tickets for Batavia. The line passed through
groves of cocoa-nut palms, intersected with
canals. Everything was quaint and interesting,
BA TA VIA. 6 =5
the canal boats, the buffalo ploughs, the gaily-
feathered birds, — all revealed a new and delight-
ful phase of life and nature. We were immensely
struck with the appearance of a native cutting
crass. He had a hooked blade of steel fastened
to a long handle, forming an instrument not unlike
a cleek or other golf-stick. This he slowly
swung round his head, and each time it touched
the ground cleared about three inches of orass.
The thing looked too absurd. We all wanted
to get out and ask him how long he expected to
be mowing that strip of grass by the canal-side.
While I was on board ship I had been fortunate
enough to borrow a Malay phrase-book from a
man who had visited the Archipelago before,
and during the voyage to Batavia I had amused
myself with copying out some of the phrases and
committing them to memory. On landing I
found these few phrases extremely useful, and
I mention the fact by way of encouragement,
and in case any other traveller should be inclined
similarly to beguile the tedium of the voyage.
He will have his reward.
66 A VISIT TO JAVA.
When Mr. Wallace visited Java in 1861, he
tells us he found no conveyances in Batavia except
"handsome two-horse carriages," costing some-
thing under a sovereign a day. He justly com-
plains of the expensiveness of these vehicles, and
also of the cost of the post-carriages which then
formed the sole means of locomotion in the
interior of the island. To-day things are greatly
improved. To say nothing of the railway system
which connects the large towns in the east and
west, Batavia is provided with an excellent tram-
way, and with a capital supply of small vehicles
called sadoes.
The sadoe is the hansom of Java. It is a
small two-wheeled carriage, in which the seats
are placed back to back (hence the name, which
is a corruption of dos-a-dos), and which is fur-
nished with a square top to keep off the sun.
It is drawn by one (or two) of the sturdy little
horses bred in the island. At a pinch these
vehicles will hold four, but two is enough.
Ordinarily the driver sits in front, and the " fare "
in the more luxurious seat behind. Thus
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BAT AVI A. 67
weighted the country-breds go at a very smart
pace ; nor is there any complaint to be made in
respect of the drivers. They are generally very
civil, and their charges are very moderate.
I was told a story which illustrates the docility
of the sadoe drivers,- and the cleverness with
which they can trace and identify their "fares."
An English officer from Singapore, whom we
will call Brown, was visiting Batavia, and had
occasion, in the course of his visit, to drive in a
sadoe from the old town to a friend's house in
Weltevreden. For some reason or other he
became annoyed with the driver, and, having
ejected him, proceeded to drive himself. As it
was night, he soon became entangled in the maze
of streets. At last he reached the large open
space called the King's Plain. He was now
close to his destination. The only difficulty was
to get rid of the sadoe. In order to do this he
drove into the middle of the plain. He waited
until the horse began to graze quietly, and then
"made tracks" as quickly as might be for his
friend's compound. Ultimately he returned to
68 A VISIT TO JAVA.
his hotel. The first thing Brown saw, when he
got up the next morning, was sadoe, driver, and
horse waiting outside his verandah in the court-
yard. He grew pale with thoughts of the police ;
but no, the driver only wanted his fare, which
was two florins. Having received this, he retired
smiling- and contented.
There was a crowd of these sadoes wait-
ing outside the station at Batavia, in one
of which I made my way to the Hotel der
Nederlanden.
Batavia may be divided (like all Gaul) into
three parts. First, there is the business quarter,
the oldest, where the houses are tall and built
in the style still prevalent in the warm countries
of Europe, with balconies and verandahs and
widely projecting eaves, and where the streets
are narrow. Then there is the Chinese Cam-
pong, which, with the adjacent streets, occupies
the central portion of the town, containing the
bulk of the population closely packed in their
curious dwellings. And, lastly, there is Wel-
tevreden, the Dutch town, where the officials,
BA TA VIA. 69
the military, and the merchants reside. The
town is traversed from end to end by the railway,
which passes through from Tanjong Priok to
Buitenzorg and Bandong ; and by the tramway,
which runs from the town gate in the north to
the statue of Meester Cornelis in the south.
It is also divided by the stream called the Kali
Bezar, or Great River, and intersected by
numerous canals. The pavements are of red
brick, and the roads covered with a reddish dust ;
indeed, the prevailing tone of the whole place is
a warm red-brown, varied by salmon-pink and
green masonry, and generously interspersed with
bright yellow, deep crimson, and olive-green
foliage, though not unfrequently a spreading
waringin tree or a group of feathery palms
overtops the general mass. Additional colour
is given by the natives, who are clothed in light
cottons and silken stuffs of delicate tones and
graceful shapes, carried with an easy carelessness
and unfailing novelty of combination. Some-
times they are gathered into dark brown masses
round the base of some one of the many bridges
/O A VISIT TO JAVA.
which span the river or canals, prepared for the
luxury of the tropics — an afternoon bathe.
All three quarters are possessed of a separate
beauty. The elaborately carved pediments and
ponderous doors, the heavy balconies and eaves
of the houses, give an old-world quaintness to
the first, which is enhanced by the crowd of many-
shaped and variously coloured boats that line
the quays that front the offices on either side
of the Great River. Nothing could be more
delightful than the setting of the red-tiled roofs,
with their dragon-decorated ridges and parapets,
on the wooden trellis fronts and canvas blinds
of the Chinese houses. Weltevreden, too, is not
without attractions. The broad porticoes of dazz-
ling white, with their Ionic columns and marble
floors, are often set in a fair surrounding of green
trees. The compounds and gardens are always
verdant, and sometimes radiant with bright-
leaved shrubs and flowers. Especially the
broad green-covered squares and the wide roads
arched with noble trees speak of coolness and
repose in a hot and weary land. On the out-
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BA TA VIA.
skirts of the town, along the country roads, where
the cocoa palm and banana plantations begin,
are the bamboo cottages of the Sundanese
natives.
But it is after nightfall that this place becomes
a veritable fairyland. The open porticoes of the
Dutch houses are seen to be thronged with gaily
dressed people, the ladies often still wearing the
sarong, and looking like /Eneas' mother —
" Proved to be a goddess by her stately tread,"
and in harmony with the pillars and pediments
about them. Everywhere lights gleam through
foliage, and ever and again, through an air instinct
with electric movement and heavy with perfumes,
strains of music reach the ear from the open door-
ways, or are wafted in the distance from one of
the numerous military bands, which are ever
" discoursing sweet music " to the society of the
capital. In the centre of the town the native
streets look, to the European eye, like a perpetual
festival. Outside the doors are gathered in
groups the various inhabitants — Chinese, Malay,
or Sundanese, some clanging cymbals and other
12 A VISIT TO JAVA.
strange instruments of music, others seated round
fires, eating baked cakes or fruits and other frugal
dainties. Meanwhile the streets are alive with
the rush of numerous cahars * and sadoes, drawn
by the agile native pony, and with itinerant ven-
dors, who, bearing their baskets suspended from
their shoulders by the pikulan, or cross-piece,
each with a lamp fixed to the rearmost basket,
flit to and fro noiselessly on their bare feet.
The business quarter, like the " city " in London,
is thronged with merchants and carriages, carts
and coolies, and all the machinery of commerce,
in the daytime, and entirely deserted at night.
The merchants keep their offices open from nine
till five, and, in spite of the great heat, work all
through the day, with the exception of an hour or so
for " tiffin." By this arrangement the early morn-
ing and late afternoon, the only time when open-
air exercise is possible, is left available for riding
or walking. In spite of the romantic exterior of
the place, Batavia is not ill-supplied with modern
* Native carriage much like the sadoe, but never used by
Europeans.
B ATA VI A. 73
improvements. The tramway system, in which
smoke and heat are avoided by the use of a central
boiler from which steam is taken for the different
locomotives, is especially well suited to the require-
ments of the climate. The telephone, again, is in
constant use both in offices and private houses,
although the confusion of languages — Malay,
Dutch, and English — makes it a little difficult
sometimes to work it. I remember once asking
the landlord of the Hotel der Nederlanden
to telephone to a man in the town that I was
intending to go to Buitenzorg on the following
morning, and the terrible difficulty I had to get
him to convey my name to the clerk at the other
end. After ringing up the central office (which is
worked by Malays) and getting the connection he
wanted, he said —
" Mr. X ? "
" No."
" Mr. X is not there " (to me).
" All right," I said ; " tell the clerk to tell
Mr. X "
But the telephone was now shut off, and the
74 A VISIT TO JAVA.
process of connecting had to be gone through
again.
" Tell Mr. X What is your name ? "
" Worsfold," I said.
" Versfolt ? "
" Yes."
"Tell Mr. X that Mynheer Versfolt "
" Who ? " (from the other end).
" Mynheer Versfolt."
" Who ? "
" Versfolt."
" Who ? "
" How you spell it ? " (to me).
I spelt it.
" Mynheer V-e-a-s-f-o-l-t. Veasfolt, Veasfolt,
Veasfolt."
Here he appealed to a Dutch gentleman who
could speak English, and wrote down the name,
W-o-r-s-f-o-l-d.
" Tell Mr. X that Mynheer Listen,
I will spell it — W-o-r," etc.
" Oh, never mind ; tell him that the English-
man is Qfoinof to Buitenzonj to-morrow."
B ATA VIA. 75
" The English gentleman is going to Buiten-
zorg to-morrow."
" What Englishman ? "
" Mynheer Veasfolt."
" Who ? "
" Mynheer Veasfold. I will spell it — W-o-r," etc.
" Yes ; what about him ? "
" Tell Mr. X that Mynheer Veasfolt '
" Who ? "
" Oh, never mind," I said ; " Mr. X will
understand."
But the polite landlord was not satisfied. " It
is no trouble ; I will tell him."
Then I went away in haste, as the process had
already occupied half an hour, and I was tele-
phoning to avoid delay. Five minutes later I
passed the bureau. The landlord was still at that
wretched instrument. I hurried by without daring
to look up, fearing that I should be appealed to
again. I dared not even ask whether the message
ever reached the office or not.
Beside the town gate — a massive stone arch,
with two large iron images on either side, rem-
/
J 6 A VISIT TO JAVA.
nants of early victories over the kings of Bantam
— there are two buildings of interest in this
(business) quarter of the town, the stadthaus, or
town hall, and the town church. The former
is just such an old Dutch edifice as might be
seen in any of the towns of Holland, standing in
a tree-planted space. In it are the offices of
the Resident and the police authorities. The
landraad, or county court, also holds its sittings
here ; and on the stone terrace in front of the
building, the town guard (a native force armed
with lances or picks, and therefore called "picki-
niers ") are generally to be seen drilling. The
town church is across the river, on the road to
Tanjong Priok. It is given up to a half-caste
conorrecration, | Dut j ts wa U s are lined with
memorial tablets of former governors, and there
are some interesting monuments outside. Ac-
cording to a wooden tablet within, it was built
between the years 1693 and 1695 by Pieter Van
Hoorn. It contains some handsome silver can-
delabra and a richly gilt pulpit, and in the vestry
there are some handsome old chairs.
BA TA VIA.
The native quarter is remarkable for the pictu-
resque medley of its people and their houses.
There are also in the Chinese Campong many
fine private houses, which are furnished with
courtyards, and elaborately finished. In the
decorations of the roof the favourite form of the
Chinese dragon is constantly repeated, and ex-
traordinary effects are produced by a sort of
mosaic work, with which the spaces over the
doorways and windows are filled, and which has
a shiny surface almost like majolica ware.
Weltevreden has many handsome buildings,
and some which are interesting. Most of them
are grouped round the two great squares or
parks, the King's Plain and the Waterloo Plain.
The former is lined by four magnificent avenues
of tamarind trees (Poinciana regia), which form a
graceful arch of small-leaved foliage, broken here
and there by a still wider-spreading waringin
tree. On the west side stands the museum,
which contains a very perfect collection of the
antiquities and industries of the island. There is
also a library, and new buildings are in course of
7 8 A VISIT TO JAVA.
erection. It is governed by a directory, which
consists in full of eleven members, who have
power to fill up any vacancies which may occur.
There is a president, a vice-president, a secretary,
and a librarian. This latter gentleman is gene-
rally to be found at the museum, and a little con-
versation with him, and a few hours spent in
the ethnological and antiquarian sections, form the
very best commencement of a tour through the
island. Directly opposite the museum is the Wel-
tevreden station and the great black dome of the
Dutch church. This latter is noticeable as being
the place where the few people who do go to
church in Batavia attend, and where marriages
are solemnized after the preliminary ceremony at
the registrar's.
The Waterloo Plain is not nearly so large
as the King's Plain. On two sides it is lined
by officers' bungalows ; and the east side is oc-
cupied by a large pile of Government offices,
called the Palace, and by the military club, the
Concordia. In front of these buildings there are
some prettily laid out gardens, in the centre of
ml
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v.
Off!
TO~^
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00
I
B ATA VIA. 79
which is a statue of Jan Pietersen Van Koen, the
first Dutch Governor of Batavia. In the centre
of the plain is the monumental pillar from which
it takes its name. It consists of a round column
with a square base, some forty feet in height,
surmounted by a Belgian lion. On the base the
following inscription is to be read in plain Roman
characters and excellent Latin : —
" In seternam, celeberrimae diei duodecimal ante
Kalendas Julii mdcccxv, memoriam, quo, forti-
tudine et strenuitate Belgarum eorumque inclyti
ducis Wilhelmi, Frederici, Georgi Ludovici, prin-
cipis arausiaci, post atrocissimum in campis
Waterlooae prcelium stratis et undique fugatis
Gallorum legionibus Pax orbis reluxit. . . ."
[William Frederick Charles, Vice- king of India,
erected this monument in the year 1827.] "To
the perpetual memory of that most famous
day, June 20, 18 15, on which, by the resolution
and activity of the Belgians and their famous
General, William Frederich George Ludovic,
Prince of Luxemburg, after a terrible conflict on
the plains of Waterloo, when the battalions of
So A VISIT TO JAVA.
the French had been routed and scattered on
every side, the peace of the world dawned once
more."
Most people will admit that the facts of the
famous victory are scarcely detailed with suffi-
cient accuracy by the inscription. And, indeed,
the American gentleman who accompanied me
on my visit remarked that " he guessed the lion
at the top was on the whole inferior in size to the
lyiri at the bottom of the pillar."
Just outside this plain, and opposite one of the
small bridges which leads into the native street
termed Pazer Baroe, is the theatre, which is
the most picturesque of the modern buildings of
Batavia.
In the main road which leads through that
part of the town which covers the site of the
original Sundanese capital, Jakatra (meaning
"the work of victory"), there is a desolate-look-
ine house which the visitor will do well to
include in his archaeological investigations. Over
the walled-up entrance of this house the remains
of a skull spiked on a pike are still to be seen.
B ATA VIA. 8 I
Underneath is a tablet with the following
inscription : —
" In consequence of the detested memory of Peter
Elberfeld, who was punished for treason, no one
shall be permitted to build in wood or stone, or to
plant anything whatsoever, in these grounds from
this time forth for evermore. Batavia, April 22,
1722."*
This Peter Elberfeld was one of the many
natives who conspired from time to time against
the Dutch. According to Raffles, the Dutch
administration of Java was distinguished from
the very first by a " haughty assumption of supe-
riority, for the purpose of overawing the credulous
simplicity of the natives, and a most extraordinary
timidity, which led them to suspect treachery and
danger in quarters where they were least to be
apprehended." But large allowances must be
made for the precarious position of a handful
of Europeans living in the midst of a hostile and
* I have taken this inscription as I found it translated in
D' Almeida's " Life in Java," from which I have also abridged
the story.
82 A VISIT TO JAVA.
numerous population. In the case of the con-
spiracy in question, the historical outlines of the
story are tinctured by an element of romance.
Peter Elberfeld was a half-caste who had
acquired considerable wealth, but who was pos-
sessed by an intense hatred of the Dutch. Uniting
the native princes in a league, he formed a con-
spiracy to extirpate the entire white population
of the island by concerted massacres. When his
plans were fully formed and ready for execution,
an unexpected circumstance revealed the plot
and brought destruction upon the chiefs of the
conspiracy. Elberfeld had a niece living with
him, who, so far from sharing her uncle's hatred
of the Dutch race, had secretly fallen in love
with a young Dutch officer. Knowing her uncle's
aversion to their foreign masters and jealousy
of their power, she did not dare to ask for his
consent to the marriage. At last she arranged
to elope with her lover. On the night previous
to that fixed upon for this event she was unable
to sleep, from a feeling of remorse at conduct
which seemed ungrateful to one who had at least
BATAVIA. 83
been indulgent and affectionate to her. As she
stood upon the verandah, looking out upon the
darkness of the night, she became conscious
that some persons, unseen in the darkness, were
moving around her. She made her way in alarm
to her uncle's chamber, but found it empty. She
then went to the dining-room. The door of this
room was shut, but, bending down, she perceived
that the room itself was filled with people, and
listened to their whispered consultations. Over-
whelmed with horror at the cruel nature of the
conspiracy, and at the terrible ceremonies by
which they bound themselves at the same time
to mutual loyalty and vengeance on their enemies,
she yet hesitated to betray her uncle. Finally
love for her betrothed prevailed, and she com-
municated the particulars of the conspiracy to
him. He at once informed the Dutch authorities.
On the following night — the night fixed for the
elopement — Elberfeld's house was surrounded,
and the conspirators were captured as they were
on the point of departing to their various stations.
Most of the native princes were punished by
84 A VISIT TO JAVA.
mutilation, but Elberfeld was reserved for a
signal vengeance. Each of his arms and legs
were tied respectively to one of four horses,
which were then driven by lashes of whips in
four different directions. Finally his head was
severed from the trunk of his body and impaled.
To this day it remains a ghastly memorial of
the turbulent past. The most unsatisfactory part
of the story is the fact that the girl who had
made such sacrifices in her lover's behalf was
after all not permitted to be his bride.
The population of Batavia is, in round numbers,
110,000. Of these 7000 are Europeans. In
respect of total population it is inferior to Soe-
rabaia, the eastern capital, which has 140,000 in-
habitants. There are, however, fewer Europeans
at Soerabaia than at Batavia. Samarang, which
ranks third in size, has a population of 70,000.
Sir Stamford Raffles, who was Governor of
Java during the short period of English occu-
pation, was so impressed with the commercial
importance of Batavia, that he persuaded the
British Government, upon the cession of the island,
BATAVIA. 85
to found a rival port on the opposite side of the
Straits of Malacca. Singapore, the town due to
this act of political foresight, is built upon a small
island at the extremity of the Malay peninsula.
Although it is almost exactly on the equator, it
enjoys a more temperate climate than its older
rival. It also possesses vastly superior accom-
modation for shipping. While Batavia, owing
to the silting of the river already mentioned, is
now some miles from the sea, Singapore possesses
two commodious harbours, and has far outstripped
the older town in commercial importance. There
is a monument marking the spot where Lady
Raffles was buried in the green glades of the
gardens at Buitenzorg ; but the statue of Sir
Stamford Raffles looks forth to the sea from the
centre of the broad grass- clad esplanade of
Singapore.
86 A VISIT TO JAVA.
CHAPTER V.
THE HINDU TEMPLES.
The temple remains generally — The connection between Buddha
and Brahma — The Boro-Boedoer — Loro-Jonggrang.
Of the temple ruins of Java, considered gene-
rally, Mr. Wallace says, "It will take most persons
by surprise to learn that they far surpass those
of Central America, perhaps even those of India."'"
Yet it is only recently that these great works
have been recovered to the world. A Dutch
engineer who was sent to construct a fort at
Klaten, in 1797, found that a number of archi-
tectural remains existed in the neighbourhood
of Brambanan, of which no account had been
given. The natives, it appeared, regarded them
as the work of some local deity, and, indeed,
were in the habit of worshipping one conspicuous
* " Malay Archipelago."
THE HINDU TEMPLES. 87
statue. He also found much difficulty in suf-
ficiently clearing the ruins of the overgrowth
of vegetation, so as to get an adequate view.
Eventually he succeeded in making some rough
sketches of them. In the year following the
English occupation (18 12), Colonel Colin Mac-
Kenzie visited Brambanan, and made an accurate
survey of the ruins in that neighbourhood, which
he sketched and described. At the instance
of the Governor, Sir Stamford Raffles, Captain
Butler was then sent to make drawings of the
buildings, and to report upon them. This was
the first methodical exploration of the Hindu
ruins in Java ; but it was only partial, and related
almost exclusively to the Brambanan neighbour-
hood. A quarter of a century later, when the
discovery of photography had made an exact
reproduction of the sculptures possible, the
Dutch Government instituted an exhaustive sur-
vey of the Boro-Boedoer temple. In July, 1845,
M. Shaefer was commissioned to execute photo-
graphs of the bas-reliefs, but he was only partially
successful. Two years later, an engineer, M.
88 A VISIT TO JAVA.
F. C. Wilsen, was sent out from Holland, and,
after giving satisfactory proofs of his skill,
definitely appointed in 1849, by a decree of
the Council of Netherlands India, to make
drawings of the bas-reliefs and statues of this
temple. He was assisted by M. Schonburg
Mulder. They commenced in April, 1849, and
completed the whole of the task they had under-
taken in the year 1853. M. Mulder's drawings
proved, however, to be useless, and a new
assistant, M. Mieling, was appointed. After
various troubles, the drawings were finally com-
pleted in 1 87 1, and the letterpress and plates
published in 1874. This great literary work, con-
sisting of several hundreds of large lithographed
plans and drawings of sculptures and statues,
with a complete account written by Dr. C.
Leemans, director of the Public Museum at
Leiden, was produced under the direction of
the Dutch Minister of the Colonies. But even
this splendid account of the Boro-Boedoer temple
is not complete ; since the date of its publication
a new series of bas-reliefs have been discovered,
THE HINDU TEMPLES. 89
and are being gradually photographed. In
connection with the temples of Brambanan and
Kalasan, also, new and interesting discoveries
are being made from year to year. Indeed,
images and sculptured stones are continually
found all over the island. At Gunong Praii,
forty miles south-west of Samarang, and further
east, at Kediri and in Malang, there are large
tracts of ruins ; but the most imposing and in-
teresting for the traveller are to be found in
the centre of the island, in the neighbourhood
of Magalang and Djokja, in positions indicated
by the accompanying map. I shall endeavour
first to give the reader a general idea of the
extent and nature of these remains, and then,
after a few remarks on the connection between
Buddha and Brahma, to describe more at length
the Boro-Boedoer temple, and that of Loro-
Jonggrang, near Brambanan, the former of
which is Buddhistic, and the latter Brahmanic,
or Saivite.
At Boro-Boedoer, ten miles from Magalang,
there are the remains of the vast temple of
90 A VISIT TO JAVA.
that name ; and about a mile distant, on the
nearer bank of the Prago river, is the small
and externally insignificant temple of Mendoet.
Inside this latter is a vaulted chamber, the roof
of which springs from walls twenty feet in height,
and rises to sixty feet in the centre, covering
a fine statue of Buddha.
At Brambanan, a village near Djokja, there
is a large mass of ruins, of which the most im-
portant are the temple of Loro-Jonggrang
and a group of small temples called Tjandi
Sewoe, or Thousand Temples. In the neigh-
bourhood of the former ruins there are six
large and fourteen small temples, twenty
separate buildings in all. The ruins of the
latter group cover a space of six hundred,
square feet, and contain many splendid colossal
figures. They are arranged in five regular
parallelograms, consisting of an outer row of
eighty-four temples, a second of seventy-six, a
third of sixty-four, a fourth of forty-four, and
a fifth (forming an inner-parallelogram) of twenty-
eight. The centre is occupied by a large cruci-
THE HINDU TEMPLES. 9T
form temple, ornamented with sculpture, and
surrounded by flights of steps. All of these
remains are greatly marred by the luxurious
growths of tropical vegetation which cover them.
Half a mile further are the Tjandi Kali Bening,
or Temples of Kalasan. Here there is a very
fine and well-preserved temple, seventy-two
square feet in extent, of which Mr. Wallace says
that it is "covered with sculptures of Hindu
mythology that surpass any that exist in India."
There are also other ruins of palaces, halls, and
temples in the neighbourhood.*
The stones used for the construction of the
Boro-Boedoer and other temples in Java, and
for the images found throughout the island, are
of volcanic origin. They are supplied by the
numerous volcanoes in the island, and carried
down the sides of the mountains to the plains
below in lava streams. To-day such stones are
used largely for making roads. There is, how-
* For this general account of the ruins in the neighbourhood
of Djokja I am indebted to the accounts of Raffles and
Wallace.
92 A VISIT TO JAVA.
ever, a little limestone found in the southern
districts of the island.
In the Boro-Boedoer, at Mendoet, and in the
Tjandi Sewoe, Buddha was worshipped ; but in
the Temple of Loro-Jonggrang at Brambanan,
and in the Temples of Kalasan, Siva (the third
person of the Hindu Trinity — Brahma, Vishnu,
Siva) was the central object of adoration. As the
connection between the religion of Buddha and
Brahma has been often misunderstood, a few words
on this point may be of service to the reader.
Brahmanism, which was the established wor-
ship of the Hindus when Buddha taught, was a
religion which admitted of many sects; and
Buddha, although his ethical system was in-
dependent of Brahmanic theology, recognized
the existence of the popular deities. The dis-
tinction, then, between Brahmanism and Bud-
dhism is purely arbitrary ; the latter is merely
a new growth of the former, and they both exist
in British India at the present day. In China
also there is a similar fusion of religious beliefs,
where there are three established cults — those
THE HINDU TEMPLES. 93
of Brahma, Confucius, and of the Taoists, or
nature-worshippers. The Confucian religion is
rather a system of ethics than a cult ; but the
rites of the Buddhist and Taoist temples are
attended indiscriminately by the majority of the
Chinese, the priests of the separate temples alone
confining themselves to the worship of a par-
ticular deity. In India, however, the special
followers of the two systems do not exhibit an
equal liberalism of sentiment ; while the worship
of Brahma is considered orthodox, the cult of
Buddha is regarded as heretical. The Buddhistic
temples of Java, coming midway between the
oldest Buddhistic temples of India and the
modern shrines in Burmah, Ceylon, and Nepaul,
the present seats of the cult, supply an interest-
ing lacuna in the antiquities of Buddhism. The
Javan form of this religion is especially allied to
that of Nepaul. It bears a general resemblance
to the Buddhism of Northern India, but is distinct
from that of Ceylon and the south. It is not
surprising, therefore, that ruins of temples dedi-
cated to the services of both religions should
94 A VISIT TO JAVA.
exist side by side, nor that the grosser and more
popular Brahmanic forms should have developed
more largely than the more spiritual worship of
Buddha, both in India to-day and in Java
previously to the Mohammedan conquest.
The temple of Boro-Boedoer is built upon a
slight rounded eminence, the last of a chain of
hills on the eastern bank of the river Pra^o.
The entire edifice rests upon an equilateral base of
six hundred and twenty feet, situated due N.S.E.
and W., and rises gradually in terraces adapted
in desien to the form of the hill. These consist
of two lower terraces which are square in form ;
four galleries (or passages, with sculptures on either
side), which are still rectangular in form, but
have twenty angles to admit of their following
the rounded contour of the hill ; and four terraces,
of which the first has twelve angles, while the
remaining three are circular, adorned with cupolas,
each containing a statue of Buddha ; and finally
the whole is surmounted by a huge cupola, fifty
feet in diameter, in which rests the central figure
of Buddha. Access from one terrace to another
THE HINDU TEMPLES. 95
is gained by four flights of steps, running up the
centre of each front, at the several entrances of
which are placed two huge lion-monsters. Dr.
Leemans, in his account of the building, enume-
rates five galleries ; but in reality there are only
four, since the outside of what he calls the first
gallery is merely a second basis for the whole
structure, as is shown by the nature of its decora-
tion, viz. simple architectural designs and groups
of deities. The lower terrace, of which Dr.
Leemans only guessed the existence, is now
being excavated and photographed section by
section. Only one section is kept open at any
given time, because the earth is necessary to
support the vast mass of stonework which forms
the entire building, and it was for this reason,
namely, to prevent the structure from breaking
up, that this terrace was formerly banked up.
It is found that this lower terrace is decorated
with sculptures representing ordinary mundane
scenes, the world being the basis on which all
the higher religious phenomena rest. In the
first gallery (Leemans' second), the bas-reliefs
96 A VISIT TO JAVA.
represent a continuous selection of scenes from
the historical life of Buddha ; in the second, there
are sculptures of the lesser deities recognized in
the Brahmanic worship, such deities having been
adopted into the Buddhistic pantheon ; in the
third the higher deities are represented, where
the shrine, and not the deity, is worshipped ; in
the fourth there are groups of Buddhas ; and in
the central dome there is the incomplete statue
of the Hiehest Buddha — Adibuddha. This is
unfinished by design, in order to indicate that the
highest deity cannot be represented by human
hands, having no bodily but only a spiritual
existence.
" Om, amitaya! measure not with words
Th' Immeasurable ; nor sink the string of thought
Into the Fathomless. Who asks doth err,
Who answers, errs. Say nought."
Such is the design of this great religious
monument, of which even the bare ruins, in their
melancholy magnificence, inspire the mind of the
spectator with mingled feelings of wonder and
solemnity.
THE HINDU TEMPLES. 97
The temple of Loro-Jonggrang is one in which,
as at Kalasan, the object of worship was Siva, and
not Buddha. This god, as already stated, was
the third of the three persons of the Hindu
Trinity ; the first being Brahma, or the Creator,
and the second Vishnu, the Preserver. Siva, the
Destroyer, is also the Reproducer, and appears in
Java to have been worshipped under three forms :
(1) as Mahadeva, or the Great God; (2) as
Mahayogi, or the Great Teacher ; and (3) as
Mahakala, or the Destroyer. Guru (or Goeroe)
is an alternative name for Siva Mahayogi, and
his statues in this temple are so called. The
edifice is greatly inferior in size to that of Boro-
Boedoer ; it rests upon a rectangular basement
having twelve angles, and measuring some eighty
feet across in either direction. Like the former
temple, its position is almost exactly square with
the points of the compass. The basement is
ornamented with ordinary religious ornaments,
consisting of sacred trees and lions. Above this
is a gallery, of which the parapet on the inner
side is decorated with scenes taken from the
7
98 A VISIT TO JAVA.
Ramayana (the second of the two great Indian
epics), while the opposite wall of the temple is
adorned with forms of deities. In the centre or
body of the temple are four chambers, one of
which — the principal — is itself larger, and contains
a larger image than the others. They are each
alike approached by flights of steps in the centre
of the four sides of the edifice. The deities
represented are — in the northern chamber,
Durga ; in the western, Ganesa ; and in both
the southern and eastern, Guru. Now, accord-
ing to the Brahmanic pantheon, Durga (the
Goddess) was the mother, and Guru the father,
of Ganesa, the elephant-headed God of Wisdom.
The connection between Siva and the Rama epic
is this. The Ramayana is the history of the
incarnation of Vishnu as Rama, and contains an
account of the war waged by Rama with the
giant Ravana, the demon king of Ceylon. In
the poem mention is made of the Vedic god
Indra and his Maruts. Subsequently Siva, the
world destroyer, was identified with Indra in the
form of Rudra, the god of tempests ; hence the
THE HINDU TEMPLES. 99
appropriateness of scenes from this story on a
Saivite temple. It only remains to add that the
name of the temple, Loro-Jonggrang, is simply
the native name given to the particular Durga
(or Goddess of Efficient Virtue) represented in
the shrine, and means literally the " Maiden with
beautiful hips."
Note. — In view of the late appearance of the Adibuddha
(probably the tenth century), I have thought it desirable to
state that the theory of the general design of the Boro-Boedoer
contained in the text is based upon a very interesting conver-
sation which I had with M. Groeneveldt, who is a member of
the Council of Netherlands India and Director of the Museum
at Batavia. Professor Rhys Davids has pointed out an inte-
resting distinction between the Boro-Boedoer and the Buddhist
shrines in India, viz. that, whereas the cupolas at Boro-Boedoer
are hollow, the dagabas of British India are always solid. In
the Annex will be found a detailed account of the various
routes and the cost, etc., of travelling from Batavia to the
temple districts in the centre and east of Java.
lOO A VISIT TO JAVA.
ANNEX TO CHAPTER V.
The Routes to the Temples.
SUPPOSING that the traveller has been landed at
Batavia, and wishes to visit the ruins in the east of the
island, he will have the choice of three routes. First,
he may sail by a Netherlands India boat to Samarang
(or Soerabaia, if, as often happens from December to
February, it is impossible to land at the former place
owing to the surf) ; this occupies about thirty-six hours.
There is an excellent hotel at Samarang — the Pavilion
— where the night can be spent, and the following day
the train will carry him to Amberawa, a distance of
50 miles by rail (or 30 by road). Here the railway
stops, and a carriage must be taken to Magalang, the
next town (with splendid views of the two volcanoes,
Merbaboe and Merapi), which is some 20 miles further
on, and where a halt must be made for the night. Ten
miles' driving will take him to the Boro-Boedoer ; the
drive is one of extraordinary beauty. After visiting
the Boro-Boedoer and the neighbouring temple of
Mendoet, it is usual to return by way of Djokja (25
miles), which is the centre of numerous ruins. If,
however, it is intended to travel overland, there are
two routes available. The first is the regular posting
route along the northern coast ; the second lies to the
THE ROUTES TO THE TEMPLES. JO I
south, and is perhaps more interesting. If the regular
route is chosen, the traveller will proceed by rail as far
as Bandong, a distance of some 90 miles ; and then
drive to Cheribon (80 miles), a place on the northern
coast ; and then, following the coast-line, from Cheribon
to Tegal (40 miles) ; from Tegal to Pekalongan
(35 miles); and from Pekalongan to Samarang (68
miles). In all these places there are good hotels, but
two horses, and in some places four (as in the last
stage, where the road passes over mountains), would
be necessary. Such a journey in a carriage would cost
(apart from hotel expenses) £20, or, if it were done in
a cart (sadoe) and two horses, half that sum.
If he pursues the second route, he will not leave the
railway before Garoet. From Garoet he will proceed
to Kalipoetjan (100 miles) by carriage ; this occupies
two days, and Manongyaya (with a hotel) is passed,
and Bandar, where there is sleeping-accommodation to
be had. From Kalipoetjan he will make his way to
Tjilatjap by native canoe, crossing the Kinderzee, a
large lagoon, in eight or nine hours, and passing some
villages built on piles. There is also a curious cave and
some edible swallow-nests to be seen. In travelling by
this route it is necessary to take a servant to interpret
with the natives. From Tjilatjap the railway runs to
Djokja. This town is about 25 miles from the Boro-
Boedoer temple ; the road is bad, and at times covered
with dust to the depth of a foot or more, so that three
horses are necessary. Even then the journey occupies
four or five hours, although it is quite possible to return
on the same day. There is an inn at the small village
102
A VISIT TO JAVA.
near the temple, but it is not sufficiently inviting to
merit more than a transitory visit ; at the same time,
there is nothing to prevent the gentlemen of the party
from staying the night at Boro-Boedoer if they felt
so inclined. From Djokja, of course, the railway ex-
tends to Samarang and to Soerabaia. Especially the
town of Solo (or Soerakarta), which is the junction
where the line branches north or east, is worthy of a
visit, as being the best centre for seeing native cere-
monies. In conclusion I append a table of distances,
means of conveyance, and cost (this latter being ap-
proximate only as depending upon individuals).
Note. — The regular hotel charge all through Java is five or
six florins a day (= \os.). Twelve florins — jQi.
First Route.
Places.
Batavia to Samarang
Samarang to Amberawa
Amberawa to Magalang
Magalang to Boro-Boedoer
Second Route.
Batavia to Bandong
Bandong to Cheribon .
Cheribon to Tegal .
Tegal to Pekalongan
Pekalongan to Samarang
Third Route.
Batavia to Garoet
Garoet to Kalipoetjan .
Kalipoetjan to Tjilatjap
Tjilatjap to Djokja .
Weans of
conveyance.
Cost.
Number
of miles.
Time.
Steamboat
60 fl
Drins
240
36 hours.
Train
8
1 5
50
{Cart
ICarriage
10
20
) 1
? y
}
2C
{Cart
(Carriage
5
10
}
IO
Train
—
1 ?
90
{Cart
(Carriage
30
60
5 J
}
SO
IO ,
(Cart
l Carriage
15
5°
}
40
4
{Cart
(Carriage
i5
60
) J
}
35
4 ..
{Cart
(Carriage
30
70
1 »
}
5°
II ,.
Train
—
?>
100
Carriage
29
j»
100
2 day.-.
Native canoe
15
>>
—
8 or 9 hrs
Train
90
( 103 )
CHAPTER VI.
BUITENZORG.
Batavian heat — To Buitenzorg by rail — Buitenzorg — Kotta
Batoe — Buffalo — Sawah land — Sketching a Javan
cottage.
Once in Java, and a visit to Buitenzorg is a
matter of course. In the first place, Buitenzorg
is to the Dutch possessions in the East what
Simla is to British India; and, in the second,
it possesses a strong attraction in its famous
Botanical Gardens.
After a week of Batavia, the European or
Australian traveller begins to want a change.
It is not that there is at any time any extra-
ordinary thermometrical heat to be encountered.
It is simply that, not being an orchid, he finds
it does not suit him to live in the warm damp
atmosphere of a hothouse. What he suffers
104 A VISIT TO JAVA.
from most is the want of sleep. Probably he
has not learnt to take two solid hours of sleep
in the afternoon. He says to himself, " Pooh !
this is nothing to the sun in India." He re-
members that when he was in Australia the
thermometer frequently registered 20° higher than
it does here. It is all nonsense to call this a hot
country, he thinks. So he hails a sadoe and
drives off to the Kali Bezar to see the a^ent
of his steamship company, when he ought to
have been dressed in the luxurious freedom of
pyjamas, and sleeping peacefully upon his great
square bed, with the mosquito curtains securely
drawn.
When night comes, the heat is apparently just
as intense, and he lies awake, saying bad words
about the mosquitoes which buzz around him,
until the small hours of the morning. When
his "boy" wakes him at six o'clock, he feels as
if he had had no sleep at all. All the same it
is a little cooler now ; so he gets up to enjoy
the fresh air outside in the verandah. After
he has had his coffee and some bananas or a
BUITENZORG. 105
slice of pomelo, and taken his bath, he feels
tolerably alive. This impression is heightened
by a gallop over the King's Plain ; and by the
time he has had his breakfast he feels as "fit
as anything." So he hardens his heart and does
the same thing again to-day, except that, knowing
the uselessness of trying to sleep before the
temperature falls after midnight, he plays billiards
at the club until he is turned out, and then
spends the rest of the evening on a friend's
verandah, seated in a long chair, consuming long
drinks, and smoking long cigars.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the average
globe-trotter finds a week of Batavia about
o
enough at a time. He confides his emotions
to his friend, who is a resident. This latter says,
" Can't sleep ? You should go to Buitenzorg ;
you'll sleep all night there." So he leaves his
heavy luggage behind in the hotel, and packs
a bag, jumps into a sadoe, and in less than two
hours he finds himself in one of the healthiest
climates in the world, and in the midst of
surroundings as novel as they are delightful.
106 A VISIT TO JAVA.
The train by which I had arranged to travel
to Buitenzorg left the Weltevreden station at the
convenient hour of half-past four in the afternoon.
It only stopped once, and accomplished the
distance in the fairly good time of one hour
and twenty minutes. Here, again, as at Tanjong
Priok, I was agreeably surprised with the size
and convenience of the stations. The railway
employes were Chinese and Javanese. The
latter were dressed in peaked caps and blue
serge coats and trousers, but wore rather un-
necessarily waist-clothes and head-bands on the
top of their European dress.
In Java, as elsewhere, the Anglo-Saxon
abounded. The occupants of the railway carriage
were, with two exceptions, English, like myself.
There was a member of the Upper House of
one of our colonial legislatures and his wife,
the sister of a prominent English politician.
With them I was already acquainted. But an
English gentleman, who occupied one of the
corner seats of the compartment, engaged in
reading the Field, was a stranger.
BUITENZORG. IO'
The train passed by rice-fields, plantations of
sugar cane, of bananas, and of Indian corn. On
either side of us was a rich and highly cultivated
country. There were hedgerows as neat as those
which separate our English fields ; and here and
there a fox-hunter would have observed with
disgust that barbed wire fences had spread as
far as Java. At regular intervals, bamboo
cottages with red-tiled roofs had been built for
the signalmen. Amonsf the fields were scattered
groups of tropical trees, palms, and bamboos ;
and more than once we caught far-off glimpses
of high mountains. The whole landscape was
clothed in a supreme verdure.
As we approached the neighbourhood of
Buitenzorg, the sky suddenly became overcast.
Tremendous masses of dense black clouds rushed
up from the horizon, throwing into relief the
slopes of the mountains on which the sun was
still shining brilliantly, and deepening the ver-
dure of the rice-fields by their shadows. A few
minutes of pelting rain and a flash or two of
vivid lightning low down on the horizon, and
108 A VISIT TO JAVA.
once more the sky was clear and the landscape
smiling and peaceful.
The town of Buitenzorg is situated on the
slopes of the great volcanic mountain Salak, in
io6° 53' 5" east longitude, and 6° 35' 8" south
latitude. Although the elevation is only seven
hundred feet above sea-level, the heat is never
overpowering in the daytime, and the nights are
delightfully cool. The mean temperature at noon,
as indicated by the thermometer, is 82° Fahren-
heit ; but in the dry season as much as 88° is
sometimes registered. Moreover while on an
average there are five months of dry weather in
Java and three in Batavia, three weeks with-
out rain is considered unusual in Buitenzorg.
The heat of the sun, therefore, is tempered by
a rainfall which is not only very heavy, but very
uniform ; and when Batavia is steaming with
moist heat, and the plains of the interior are
scorched and dry, in Buitenzorg the gardens
are still verdant and the air still tonic.
Besides Salak, which rises to a height of seven
thousand feet, there is another and still loftier
BUITENZORG. 109
mountain mass in the immediate neighbour-
hood of the town. This is the double-peaked
Pangerango and Gede. All three mountains
are volcanic. Salak, however, has been silent
since the eruption of 1699, and the peak of
Pangerango is an extinct volcanic cone ; the only
sign of activity is the light wreath of smoke which
is generally to be seen hanging over the summit
of Gede. The slopes of these great mountains
are clothed with a foliage which is kept peren-
nially fresh by the abundant rains. Seen from
rising ground, they enrich the landscape with
the beauty of their graceful elevations ; from the
lower levels of the town, and in contrast to the
foliage of palm or bamboo, their sheer height is
manifested by the intense blueness of the back-
ground they afford.
Buitenzorgf has Ions: been the favourite resort
of the officials and merchants of Batavia. In
course of time the train service will no doubt
be improved ; as it is, busy men run down to see
their families, or merely to enjoy the comparative
coolness of the air for the " week end," or even
for a single night.
IIO A VISIT TO JAVA.
The town itself contains a population of four
thousand inhabitants. It has an excellent club,
a museum, a race-course, and several good hotels.
The summer residence of the Governor-General
is in the centre of a large and beautifully wooded
park, in which a number of deer are kept. It is
an extensive building, consisting of an elevated
central portion with wings on either side. It is
built in the usual classical style affected by the
Dutch for their public buildings, and is orna-
mented with pilasters and pediments. Part of
the park is occupied by the famous Botanical
Gardens, which form the supreme attraction of
the place to the scientific visitor. The Governor-
General, as the highest official in the Dutch East
Indies, receives a salary of 160,000 florins a year.
While this personage is at Buitenzorg he may
be frequently observed driving down the great
avenue of Kanarie trees in his state coach drawn
by four horses. In close connection with the
palace (as the Governor-General's residence is
called), but at some distance from the town,
large and convenient barracks have lately been
BUITENZORG. I I I
completed for the better accommodation of the
European troops.
I had been told not to omit to visit Batoe
Toelis, "the place of the written stone," where
there is an ancient inscription, and Kotta Batoe
with its celebrated bath presided over by a
Chinaman. My first expedition was to this
latter place. There were three of us bent
upon a swim before breakfast, and in order
to save time we took a sadoe. The beauty
and extent of the view increased as we ascended
the slopes of Mount Salak. When we had driven
some three miles we left the sadoe, with strict
injunctions to the driver to wait till we re-
turned, and proceeded to accomplish our quest
on foot. There were three baths in all, natural
basins of rock fed by streams of mountain
water, and shaded by the dense foliage of lofty
trees. One of them is circular in form, and
the water is curiously coloured, by some trick
of reflection or refraction, to a dull steely blue.
A plunge in the clear cool water was well worth
the trifling fee we paid to the celestial, and we
112 A VISIT TO JAVA.
returned to our hotel with a famous appetite for
breakfast.
It was on the occasion of this drive that I first
made the acquaintance of that useful domestic
animal, the buffalo [Bos Sondaicus). He is a very
"fine and large" animal of a mouse colour, with
white legs and a patch of white on his quarters ;
and has long horns lying back on his neck, where
they cannot be the slightest use to him. His
Javan masters find him very docile, but he has
an awkward way with strangers. He is generally
to be found under the care of a small boy, who
is seated on his broad back? and who touches him
with a rod on this side or that according to the
direction which he desires the animal to take.
I have already described the simple but effective
plough to which he is yoked when working the
sawahs,* and the methods employed by the
natives for the cultivation of rice.
From almost any elevated point it is possible
to get views of the sawahs in the neighbourhood
of Buitenzorg. The form and extent of the
* In Chapter III.
BUITENZORG.
separate fields divided by the water-courses vary
with the nature of the country. Each field is
itself perfectly level, and is separated by as little
as half a foot, or as much as four feet, from those
immediately above and beneath it. The slopes
of Gede are covered with such a series of vast
and irregular terraces. Seen from Buitenzorg
the general effect is not unlike that of the tiers
of a theatre, while in the distance the individual
terraces show smooth surfaces varying in colour
from emerald green to saffron yellow, or flashing
with the brightness of still and sunlit waters.
Indeed, there is much to be seen at Buitenzorg
with but little expenditure of time or trouble.
Close at hand is the Campong, or Chinese town,
with its quaint shops and busy market-place.
Immediately beneath the hotel numberless bam-
boo cottages crowded with Javanese peasants can
be found for the looking. They lie in the midst
of groves of cocoanut palms, hidden away almost
as completely as if they were a hundred miles
instead of a hundred yards from the Belle Vue.
I spent one whole morning sketching a cot-
8
114 A VISIT TO JAVA.
tage which I found within a stone's throw of
the hotel. Without any ceremony, I walked
into the midst of the family circle, and seated
myself under- the shelter of a wood shed. Had
I known enough Malay, I should certainly have
first asked permission before I ventured upon
such an intrusion, for I have found a sketching-
book an almost universal passport to civility.
As it was, I assumed an air of conscious
innocence, which I trusted would soon remove
any awkward suspicions which might arise in
the mind of the owner of the house, and pro-
ceeded to unpack my sketching-traps. I then
quickly sketched in the group on the verandah,
consisting- of the mother and children. Before
I had finished they all ran away in alarm, and
for the next half-hour the front of the house
was entirely deserted. I suppose they made
up their minds at last that I was harmless, for
they gradually came back and resumed their
usual manner of life. The mother was occupied
with keeping two small children in order. Be-
sides these, there was a little boy and a girl.
*>
*
BUITENZORG. I 15
This latter was the oldest of the family. She
was not so shy as her mother ; on the contrary,
she arranged herself in a most becoming attitude
against the front of the verandah. Every now
and then the mother showed her teeth and spoke
crossly to the baby, and once when it cried she
whipped it with a bit of palm-leaf until it came
to a better mind — which it did promptly. After
a time, a Chinaman called and had a talk with
the lady of the house. I think he wanted a
load of firewood. An old lady also came. I
could not fathom her business, but, from the
interest she manifested in the children, I expect
she was a relative of the family.
About noon the father came back with a load
of wood. He was a man of the world, and knew
all about the performance. After he had looked
at the sketch, the children, and finally the mother,
all came round my stool and had a good long
look at my work. Even so the mother would
not let the children dab their toes into my paints,
or generally become a nuisance. For this un-
expected manifestation of a sense of the fitness
I I 6 A VISIT TO J A VA.
of things, I felt grateful to her, and, before I
went away, found a way of recompensing the
children for the sorrow they must have felt at
being compelled to relinquish such a rare oppor-
tunity for getting into mischief.
Every morning I found some quaint figure
with which to enrich my sketch-book — a sarong-
weaver, or a beggar crouching by the wayside,
or a Hadji, with his large umbrella and green
turban, the latter marking the fact of his having
accomplished a pilgrimage to Mecca. But,
interesting as were these human studies, my
pleasantest recollections of Buitenzorg centre
in the visit which I paid to the Botanical Gardens,
under the guidance of the curator, Dr. Treub.
My account of this, however, and of the
gardens generally, I reserve for the next chapter.
NATIVES SQUATTING.
( M7 )
CHAPTER VII.
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS.
History of the Buitenzorg gardens — Teysmann — Schefifer
— Three separate branches — Horticultural garden —
Mountain garden — Botanical garden — Dr. Treub — ■
Lady Raffles' monument— Pandanus with aerial roots
— Cyrtostachys renda — Stelecho - karpus — Urostigma —
Brazilian palms — Laboratories and offices — Number of
men employed — Scientific strangers.
Among the twenty or thirty tropical gardens
established in the colonial possessions of the
various European Powers, three stand pre-
eminent — those of Calcutta, the Peradenia
Gardens in Ceylon, and the Dutch gardens at
Buitenzorg. It is only natural that a people
so distinguished for horticulture as the Dutch
should have turned to account the floral wealth
of the Malay Archipelago, perhaps the richest
botanical hunting-ground in the world. The
I 1 8 A VISIT TO JAVA.
Buitenzorg gardens, however, owe their present
celebrity more to individual energy than to
Government patronage.
Originally established in 1 8 19, in a corner of
the park surrounding the residence of the
Governor-General, the exigencies of colonial
finance subsequently required the withdrawal
of almost all the provision originally made,
and only a sum sufficient to support a single
European gardener was left. The salary of
this single official was taken from the funds
appropriated to the maintenance of the park.
It was to this post that J. E. Teysmann was
appointed in 1830. Educated at one of the
primary schools in Holland, and originally
employed as an under-gardener, he had in
that capacity accompanied Governor Van den
Bosch to Java. Like our own Moffat (also an
under-gardener), Teysmann rose by his energy
and devotion to "great honour," and, half a
century later, received a remarkable proof of
the esteem in which he was held in the
scientific world, consisting of an album, within
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS. 119
which were inscribed the signatures of the
donors — one hundred famous naturalists, ranging
from Darwen to Candolle, the Genevan. It bore
the inscription —
" Celeberrimo indefessoque J. E. Teysmann
cum dimidium per sciamlum Arckipelagi indici
thesaurum botanicum exploravit, mirantes colleges."
During the period that the gardens ceased
to exist as an independent institution — 1830 to
1868 — Teysmann continued to search throughout
the islands of the Archipelago for rare and
undiscovered plants with which to enrich them.
He also published catalogues embodying the
discoveries he had made, and finally arranged
the plants and trees upon an excellent system,
in which they are grouped in accordance with
their natural relationships.
In 1868 the gardens once more became a
public institution, with a curator and a recognized
revenue. The new curator was Dr. Scheffer, of
Utrecht, who in 1876 founded, in addition to
the botanical gardens, a school of agriculture
with a garden attached to it. This useful
120 A VISIT TO JAVA.
institution was subsequently suppressed by the
Government, but the garden still survives along-
side its parent at Buitenzorg. Dr. Scheffer died
in 1880, when only thirty-six years of age. He
was succeeded by the present curator, Dr. Treub.
The Dutch Government gardens in Java,
known to the scientific world as the Hortus
Bogoriensis* and to the official as the Neder-
iancis Plantentuin te Buitenzorg, contain three
separate branches — the botanical gardens, a
horticultural garden, and a mountain garden.
Of these, the last is situated at some distance
from the town, on the slopes of Mount Gede.
It occupies seventy-five acres of land at an
altitude of between 4000 and 5000 feet, and is
provided with a staff of ten natives working
under a European gardener. I was told that,
while all European, Australian, and Japanese
flowers would grow there, it was found impossible
to cultivate the fruits of such temperate regions,
* Bogor is the native name for this place ; Buitenzorg
means " beyond care," and is therefore the equivalent of the
French sans lourri.
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS. 121
owing to the difficulty experienced in securing
the necessary period of rest. I have since heard
that in Fiji the difficulty is overcome by exposing
the roots for some months, and thus preventing
the sap from rising. Why not adopt this method
in Java ?
The horticultural garden adjoins the botanical
gardens, and occupies forty acres. As already
mentioned, it owes its existence to Dr. Scheffer,
and it is, of course, devoted to strictly practical
objects. Consequently, everything is arranged in
such a manner as to make the most of the space.
All the paths are at right angles or parallel to
each other, and the garden generally is laid out
with monotonous regularity. Yet no small part
of the success of the Government gardens as
an institution depends upon the produce of this
department. It has for many years enabled
the Government to distribute gratuitously the
seeds and plants required for various colonial
enterprises. Within its trim beds are contained
tea and coffee plants, sugar-canes, caoutchouc
and gutta-percha trees, Erythroxylon coca for
122 A VISIT TO JAVA.
cocaine, and trees producing tannin and oils.
Various medicinal plants are also to be found
here, and such as afford useful nourishment for
cattle. The necessary labour for this garden is
supplied by a head-gardener and seventy natives.
The botanical gardens occupy ninety acres
of the southern corner of the park, which itself
forms their northern limit. On the east they
are bounded by the river Tjiliwong, and on the
west and south by the high-road from Batavia.
Through the centre there runs the famous Altie
des Kanaries [Canarium comimme), the boughs
of which form an arched roof one hundred feet
from the ground. Leading right and left from
this central avenue run other smaller avenues,
roads, and paths, conducting to the different
plots in which the various families of plants
are contained, in accordance with the system of
arrangement introduced by Teysmann. Some
of these paths, especially those leading to the
lower level by the river-bank, are paved with
pebbles after the manner of the " cobbled " streets
oi our English villages. To this Mr. Wallace,
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS. 1 23
in his " Malay Archipelago," takes exception
on the score of discomfort. I was assured,
however, that they are a necessary evil, and
that the heavy rains to which Buitenzorg was
liable, made it necessary to have the firmest
kind of pathway in such places. At either end
of the avenue there are lodges, but no gates,
and the gardens are left open day and night
without any fear of injury. This fortunate
condition of affairs is not unusual in Java, but
in this case security is partly ensured by the
proximity of a large military force and the frequent
presence of the Governor-General.
As Dr. Treub had kindly offered to act as my
guide, I found my way one morning to his house
at the early hour of half-past seven. The
residence provided for the curator is situated
on the left side of the southern entrance. The
deep verandah is furnished with some brilliant
groups of flowers. Opening on to it is a little
morning-room hung with some elegant engravings
— reproductions of Salon pictures. Here I
found Dr. Treub waiting for me.
124 A VISIT TO JAVA.
After a few moments' conversation we left
the house and passed down the avenue. Some
hundred yards onwards, to the right, there is
a stone monument interesting to Englishmen.
It consists of a circular roof supported by pillars,
protecting a funereal urn placed upon a square
pedestal. On the pedestal the following in-
scription is engraved : —
" Sacred to the memory of Olivia Mariamne,
wife of Thomas Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-
Governor of Java and its dependencies, who died
at Buitenzorg on the 26th of November, 18 14."
Although the site of this monument is more
humble than that of Sir Thomas Raffles' statue
at Singapore, it is scarcely less interesting ; and
the repair and preservation of the stonework is
secured by a special clause in the treaty of
cession. I think it was just here that Dr. Treub
turned away from the Canary Avenue, and, taking-
one of the paths to the right, led me forward
towards the river.
I had asked him if he would point out any
trees specially worthy of being sketched, and he
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS. I 25
had very readily acceded to my request. After
we had walked a few minutes, however, he said —
" I am in a difficulty ; I do not know what to
show you. We have some most curious plants in
the garden, but there is nothing remarkable about
them externally. I suppose you want something
with a cachet for the public ? "
I said he was quite right in his supposition.
What I wanted was something of interest from
a picturesque point of view to the general public.
<( There," he said, pointing to a tall tree with
a growth and foliage of no distinct character, " is
a strychnine tree ; from the berries of that tree
we get nux vomica ; but if you drew that, they
would say, ' Why, it is an apple-tree ; it is not
worth going to the tropics to see that.' 3
By this time we had almost reached the banks
of the Tjiliwong, and again turning to the right,
where grew the pandans, " There," he said, " is
a tree with aerial roots. It comes from the
Nicobar Islands, just north-west of Sumatra. I
think it is about twenty-eight feet in height. No,
the roots do not contribute to its nourishment ;
126 A VISIT TO JAVA.
they are useless but very curious." From the
pandans we passed to the palms. First we
noticed a specimen of comparatively low growth,
with its leaves springing from the ground like the
leaves of a primrose — Ladoicea Sechellarum. It
bore, I was told, the largest fruit and the largest
leaves of any known tree, the former being two,
and the latter ten, feet in diameter. " Unfor-
tunately, there is no fruit on it," said Dr. Treub,
" but you can see that in any museum. You see,
the stems of the leaves are as hard as iron."
Indeed, they gave quite a metallic ring as he
drove the ferrule of his walking stick against
them. A few steps further brought us to a tree
which Dr. Treub said had no special character-
istics, but was a perfect natural specimen of the
palm family. It stood about forty feet in height,
and was furnished with foliage which hung
gracefully suspended from a straight tapering
stem. Then at the next corner, where its beauty
showed to advantage, we came upon a group of
red-stemmed palms from the little island of
Banka. A fortnight later I was anchored off
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS. 1 27
Mentok, the capital of that island, in a Dutch
mail boat ; but at this time I had no knowledge
of the habitat of this fair tree — nor, indeed, had
I seen it before, although a few weeks afterwards
I found two fine specimens growing on either
side of the entrance of a private house at Singa-
pore. It needs an expert to describe so rare a
combination of brilliant colours and graceful form.
Mr. Forbes, the naturalist, in his account of his
"Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago," tells
how he passed down through "plots of amaryl-
lidese, iris, and other water-loving plants" in this
quarter of the garden ; and how he found the
" glory" of "the richest palmetum in the world —
the Cyrtostachys renda, whose long bright scarlet
leaf-sheaths and flower-spathes, and its red fruit
and deep yellow inflorescence hanging side by
side, at once arrest the eye."
From this point we again ascended to the
higher level of the garden by a path paved with
pebbles and cut into steps. Then "faring on
our way," we reached the division marked
Anonacece, and there my eye came upon a sight
128 A VISIT TO JAVA.
which rivalled in wonder the golden bough of
the sixth y^Eneid which the doves of Venus
showed to ^Eneas :
" Tollunt se celeres, liquidumque per aera lapsse,
Sedibus optatis geminse super arbore sidunt,
Discolor unde auri per ramos aura refulsit."
In this case the "contrasting golden beam"
shone not from the foliage, but, stranger still,
from the black trunk of a tall tree. It was a
stelecho-karpus, or stem-flowering tree. The
trunk from which the deep saffron flowers sprang
was about one foot and three inches in diameter,
and the flowers themselves were much like
bunches of primroses, only darker in colour and
divested of their leaves. Unlike tineas, we
passed forward without any floral spoils — for,
indeed, we had no such awkward personage as
Charon to reckon with — among dark, cool, tree-
arched avenues of figs and banyans to the northern
limit. On our way we paused once to notice a
fine " sacred fig" of India {urostigma), a tree with
remarkably angular boughs ; and again when Dr.
Treub stopped, and, pointing to the frangipane
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS. I?Q
blossom, said, " That is the flower of religion in
India, being sacred to Buddha; the Malays here
call it the ' flower of the dead.' ' In this quarter
the trees were larger and of more robust growth,
and the appearance of the garden more natural
to my Northern eyes. A sudden turn brought
us to a projecting spur, on which was built a little
summer-house commandinof a view of the sur-
rounding country. Far away the double mountain
Pangerango and Gede rose blue and shadowy,
with just a wreath of smoke showing from the
volcanic peak. In the middle ground stretched
masses of tropical forests edging the bright green
terraces of the savah land. At our feet the
river ran bubbling and fretting over the brown
stones.
In returning we skirted the central lake, and,
having crossed the avenue, passed down a broad
roadway lined with rich foliage. This was so
arranged as to afford a view of Mount Salak
to the southern windows of the Governor-General's
residence. It was one of the many glimpses
which appeared of a sheer height of dark azure
9
130 A VISIT TO JAVA.
contrasted with the bright green of palm or
bamboo. Leaving this, we passed down an avenue
of Brazilian palms, running parallel to the Canary
Avenue. Each tree was almost too faultlessly
perfect in its graceful foliage and smooth rounded
stem, and of apparently equal height. Round
the surfaces of these stems the green leaves and
purple flowers of convolvuli clung. A few yards
beyond the termination of this avenue we left
the path and entered a wilderness of climbing
plants. Carefully advancing (for there were arms
stretched out on every side ready to pluck flesh
or clothing), we took our stand opposite the coils
of a huge climbing palm.
"There are branches," said Dr. Treub, "from
this plant six hundred feet in length ; it passes,
as you see, from tree to tree."
On reaching the path, I found that we had
completed the circuit of the gardens, and were
once more in the neighbourhood of the nurseries
and buildings. These latter are numerous and
extensive, for the curator of the Buitenzorof
gardens aims not only at obtaining a wide
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS. 131
range of vegetable products, and thus serving
the needs of colonial industries, but also at
accomplishing researches in the pathology and
physiology of plants. In this way Dr. Treub
expects a useful development for the tropical
gardens generally, which he considers have only
lately become genuine centres of scientific re-
search. At Buitenzorg, in addition to a museum
containing an extensive herbarium and a botanical
librarv of over five thousand volumes, there are
numerous laboratories and offices accommodating
the curator and his three assistants, and draughts-
men, who are competent to employ the methods
of photography and lithography in reproducing
the forms of plants. Under the direction of
this staff there are employed a number of natives,
including three Malays with special botanical
knowledge, a head-gardener, and nine under-
gardeners, and scarcely less than a hundred
coolies. Altogether there are nine thousand
distinct species of plants contained in the
gardens. On our way to the strangers' labora-
tory we passed a number of trellis-work houses,
132 A VISIT TO JAVA.
with creepers trained over their sides and roofs.
" You see," said Dr. Treub, with a smile, " we
have cool houses here instead of hot houses.
They are for forest plants accustomed to coolness
and shelter."
I was especially asked to notice the complete-
ness of the arrangements made for scientific
visitors. The laboratory is seventy-five feet in
length, and opposite each of the ten windows
(five on either side) is placed a table fitted with
optical instruments and other necessary means
of botanical research. It is also provided with
a small library and herbarium. In reference to
the strangers' laboratory, Dr. Treub remarked
that he specially desired to see Englishmen
avail themselves of it. German and French
savants had come to Buitenzorg to study, but
no Englishmen as yet.
I visited these gardens on several occasions
during my short stay at Buitenzorg, and often
wandered among the dark tree-arched paths
and avenues. On each occasion I found some
new beauty. One day it was a lakelet covered
THE BOTANICAL GARDENS.
*33
with great water-plants ; another day a gorgeous
plot of orchids, or a fresh piece of landscape.
These subsequent visits, however, lacked that
which gave so great a charm to my first walk
through the gardens — the spontaneous courtesy
and graceful learning of the curator.
A HAPPY CELESTIAL.
134 A VISIT TO JAVA.
CHAPTER VIII.
FROM BUITENZORG TO TJI WANGI.
View of Mount Salak — Railway travelling in Java — Soeka-
boemi — No coolies — A long walk — Making a pikulan —
Forest path — Tji Wangi at last.
It is two in the afternoon, and I have just taken
the curious Javan meal called rice-table. Every-
one else in the hotel, visitors and servants alike,
are asleep. The doors of my rooms are all open,
and there is a through draught from the courtyard
to the verandah, where I am seated in a long
easy chair with arms extending at will after the
manner of the tropics. By my side on a table
are placed cigars, a glass of iced claret and water,
and a novel.
The view from the back rooms of the Hotel
Belle Vue at Buitenzorg is famous. This
afternoon I am looking at it for the last time,
FROM BUITENZORG TO TJI WANG I. 1 35
and it seems more wonderful than ever. Let
me try to describe it.
Immediately in front is the great triangular
mass of Mount Salak. The peak is 7000 feet
above sea-level, and, like most of the Javan
mountains, it rises to its full height almost clear
from its base. The lower levels are luxuriantly
covered with tropical forests, a covering which
gradually thins and dwindles until the apex of
the triangle stands out sharply against the sky.
Between the hotel and the mountain there
stretches a sea of waving treetops. In the
distance it is deep blue; as it approaches it
grows more and more green ; then separate
forms of palms and bamboos can be distin-
guished, with red-tiled or brown-thatched roofs
showing between them. Immediately beneath
me is the brown river Tjiliwong, with bamboo
cottages on its banks and natives bathing in its
waters.
Inside the courtyard no one is stirring. The
dreamy silence is only broken by the voices that
rise from the river below, by the clacking of the
136 A VISIT TO JAVA.
sarong weaver's shuttle or the dull boom of a
far-away tom-tom.
Under such circumstances the conditions
necessary for perfect physical enjoyment are
very fully realized. Yet it is at such moments
that one is apt to reflect how unimportant are
these material considerations compared with the
advantages of strenuous and reasoned action.
One lon^s for the stir of life as it is felt in
the great centres of European population ;
" Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay."
Well, I was going to see some European
energy on the morrow. At Batavia an English
resident had said, "When you are at Buitenzorg
you should go on to Soekaboemi and see a coffee
plantation.' Subsequently he wrote that his friend
H would expect me on Tuesday at his coffee
plantation with an unpronounceable name in the
Preanger district. The morrow was Tuesday.
Soekaboemi was only thirty or forty miles
away, but I left Buitenzorg at eight o'clock in
order to escape the discomfort of travelling in
FROM BUITENZORG TO TJI WANGI. I 37
the middle of the day. It goes without saying
that trains in the tropics do not carry you along
as quickly as the Flying Dutchman or the Scotch
express. But I found the carriages comfortable
enough, being built in the American fashion, and
furnished with Venetians to keep out the sun
and let in the air. Except the station-masters,
all the officials were Chinese or Javan natives.
The guard who looked at my ticket wore the
traditional peaked cap and cloth uniform, but
over his European garments he had appended
as usual his airy native costume. Of the four
classes of carriages two are reserved for Euro-
peans, one for Chinese, and one for the natives.
In leaving Buitenzorg I made the mistake of
taking a first-class ticket. In the first place, the
carnage had not been dusted, and a cooly came
in and disturbed me with his brush. He made
such a cloud of dust that I had to beat a retreat.
On my return I found the carriage clean, but
the dust transferred to my baggage. In the
next place, all the Dutch officials, and the
planters and their wives, were travelling second
138 A VISIT TO JAVA.
class, and I was left to enjoy (?) my compartment
in solitary grandeur. Had there been any one
in the carriage, I should have found out that
Soekaboemi was not the right station for H 's
plantation. As it was I could open and shut
windows at will, and I was free to make the best
of my opportunities for sight-seeing — an object
towards which the slow pace of the train and the
frequent and lengthy stoppages materially con-
tributed. Indeed, the crowds of natives at the
stations were as well worth studying as the moun-
tains ;and plantations. I never saw elsewhere,
even in Java, such rainbow mixtures of colours
as they contrived to bring into their cotton
jackets and dresses ; and as for their plaited hats,
there was every possible variety of shape and
size, from an umbrella to a funnel.
For the first few miles the line ran southwards
between Salak and Gede. On either side I could
see stretches of mountain slopes luxuriously
wooded, while the brown stream Tji Sadanie,
a tributary of the Kali Besar, or "great river"
of Batavia, playing hide-and-seek with the rail-
FROM BUITENZORG TO TJI WANGT. 1 39
road, afforded more than one charming " bit " of
river, tree, and mountain.
As we get away from the mountains the view
widens. Masses of palms, dark green bamboos,
and other tropical growths fill up the distance.
In the foreground are irrigated rice terraces, with
gleaming waters and the freshest of verdure.
Here copper-coloured natives are at work. Men
are ploughing the wet soil of the sawahs with
buffaloes ; women — often with their babies slung
on their backs with their long scarfs — are hoeing,
or weeding, or reaping. As the average monthly
temperature does not vary more than two
degrees all the year round in Java, the process
of preparing the ground, sowing, and reaping go
on simultaneously in the ricefields. Every now
and then we come across a queer little Noah's-
ark cottage in the midst of bananas and bamboos,
with a tall palm or two v/aving overhead. Salak
remains long- in sight. At first it towered in its
pride of greatness, then it grew soft in the blue
distance. At last the railway turns abruptly at
Karan Tenjak, and it is gone.
HO A VISIT TO JAVA.
As the train nears Soekaboemi the character
of the country changes. Plantations of sugar in
the level country and of tea on the uplands take
the place of ricefields. The name Soekaboemi
means "pleasant place," and the town is the
centre of the planting interest in Java. In its
immediate neighbourhood are coffee, cinchona,
and tea plantations.
At a quarter to eleven the train drew up in
a large and excellently arranged station. I at
once made my way outside. Here I looked in
vain for the horses and coolies I expected to
meet me. After waiting some moments, I con-
fided my troubles to a bystander, addressing him
in French, which is spoken by the Europeans in
Java almost as much as Dutch. Fortunately Tji
Wangi — the unpronounceable name of H 's
plantation — seemed to be well known, and he
grasped the situation at once.
" You ought to have gone to Tji Reingass,"
he said ; " the coolies will be there."
" How far am I from Tji Wangi ? Is it
within driving distance ? " I inquired.
FROM BUITENZORG TO TJI WANG I. 141
"Yes."
" Can I take a sadoe ? "
" Yes, certainly."
There were several sadoes outside the station
at Soekaboemi. As my knowledge of Malay, the
recognized language for communication between
natives and Europeans, was strictly limited,
I asked my new friend to find out if the Malay
"boy" knew where Tji Wangi was. This he
readily did, and told me that it was all right ;
that he would take me to Tji Wangi. So I got
into the sadoe, expecting to be driven promptly
to my destination.
But the thing was not so simple. After an
hour and a half of driving over mountain roads,
the Malay pulled up suddenly under the shelter
of a wayside inn. While I was wondering why
he stopped, he coolly took out my luggage and
planted it in the middle of the road in front of
the sadoe. After this very broad hint, I got
out too.
" Mana Tji Wangi " (''Where is Tji Wangi ") ?
I said.
142 A VISIT TO JAVA.
For answer he pointed with his thumb over
his shoulder to the mountain.
" Brapa lama" (" How long") ?
" Suku jam " (" A quarter of an hour "), was the
mendacious and unhesitating reply.
Meanwhile a cooly, who had been summoned
from the ricefields, appeared upon the scene
and took up my Gladstone bag. Nothing re-
mained for me but to pay my mendacious
Malay half the number of florins he demanded
and follow my new guide.
As a matter of fact, Tji Wangi was ten
miles away on the other side of the Goenoeng
Malang, or Cross Mountain. This, of course,
I did not know, and so I set off cheerfully
up the side of the mountain. Although it
was midday, the heat was not oppressive
at this altitude (two thousand feet), and I
was clothed for the tropics. When an hour
had passed and there were still no signs of
the plantation, I began to feel less cheerful. I
stopped and interrogated the cooly. He smiled
blandly. He at least was suffering from no
FROM BUITENZORG TO TJI WANGI. 1 43
misgivings. Like the young man in " Excelsior,"
he pointed upwards. We met some natives ;
I accosted them with " Mana Tji Wangi ? '
They too pointed up the mountain. At any
rate, we were travelling in the right direction.
I noticed that the natives we met behaved very
differently from the saucy sadoe-drivers in the
towns. As we passed they stood on one side
with their heads uncovered. When I spoke
to them, they squatted down and sat with their
legs tucked up under them and their hats off
in a most uncomfortable way. I afterwards
learnt that these traditions of Oriental etiquette
were preserved by the Dutch and English
planters in the interests of discipline. As the
plantations are often long distances apart, the
Europeans have to rely upon moral force to
maintain their ascendency. Another half-hour
passed and still no signs of Tji Wangi. We
had met no Europeans, and I was beginning
to get uneasy, when we came to a second inn.
Here I ordered a halt. The shade of the
projecting roof was very welcome. My eyes
144 A VISIT TO JAVA.
could not reach the dark interior, but they
ranged hungrily — I had eaten nothing since
my early breakfast — over the edibles laid out
in front. There were fruits and cakes, little
messes of vegetables, dried fish, and other
odd-looking delicacies on plates. I decided on a
big bunch of bananas. In payment I gave a
half-florin — worth rather less than a shilling of
English money — and I received in return quite
a handful of silver and copper coins. I con-
cluded that bananas were not expensive in Java.
While I was eating my bananas, my cooly
set to work to make a pikulan, or shoulder-piece.
He took a long bamboo and stripped off the
leaves and branches with his gaulok, a long
knife which every native carries at his waist.
By the aid of this contrivance — borrowed from
China — the Javan natives carry burdens up to
half a hundredweight without apparent exertion
for long distances. The spring of the bamboo
eases the pressure on the shoulder. On the
same principle, an Australian carries his swag
with a lurch forward.
FROM BUITENZORG TO TJI WANGI. 1 45
While he was busied with the pikulan, the
cooly talked over the affairs of the Tuan Ingris
(English gentleman) to a crowd of natives.
Suddenly I heard the word kuda. Fortunately
kuda (horse) was one of the words I knew :
and I at once ordered the kuda to be brought.
Half a dozen natives set off to find it. It
turned out to be a very diminutive pony, but
I was not prepared to criticize.
We set out from the inn under brighter
auspices. The cooly slung my Gladstone bag
at one end of the pikulan, and another small
bag, with a big stone to balance, at the other.
He moved with an elastic step, as if there was
no greater pleasure in the world than carrying
bags up mountain paths, and beat the kuda
hands down.
Relieved of the fatigue of walking, I could
admire the mountain scenery. As we climbed
higher and higher, the stretches of green country
grew more extensive, and the blue mountains
seemed to grow loftier in the distance. Once over
the saddle of the mountain, we descended rapidly
10
146 A VISIT TO JAVA.
into a region of almost virgin forest. Ferns and
large-leaved trees overhung the path ; from the
verdant undergrowth there sprang at intervals
the vast round trunks of the rosamala trees.
In the branches high above, and beyond the
range of any gun, the wild pigeons fluttered and
cooed. The spaces between the great trees were
filled by a background of dense forest.
About five o'clock the red roofs of the planta-
tion came in sight. In another five minutes I
was being- welcomed with Anglo-Saxon hearti-
ness. " Ah ! " said H , as he looked at my
little pony. " I sent you down a horse that
would have brought you up within the hour.
You should have gone to Tji Reingass ; that is
our station, not Soekaboemi. Johnston ought to
have known. Come in."
In H 's comfortable den I soon forgot the
various contretemps of my journey to Tji Wangi.
( H7 )
CHAPTER IX.
THE CULTURE SYSTEM.
Financial system previous to the British occupation — Raffles'
changes — Return of the Dutch — Financial policy —
Van den Bosch Governor-General — Introduction of the
culture system — Its application to sugar — To other
industries — Financial results of the system — Its abandon-
ment — Reasons of this — Present condition of trade in
Java — Financial outlook.
As I have already mentioned, the Colonial
Government succeeded the Dutch East India
Company in the administration of Java towards
the end of the last century. During the period
antecedent to the British occupation, the revenue
of the Government was derived from two mono-
polies : (i) that of producing the more valuable
crops, and (2) that of trading in all products
whatever. Meanwhile the mass of the natives
were left entirely to the mercy of the native
148 A VISIT TO JAVA.
princes, by whom they were subjected to all
manner of exactions.
The financial results of this state of things
were seen in the fact that in 18 10 the gross
revenue of Java was only three and a half
million florins,* a sum wholly inadequate to the
requirements of administration.
During the five years of British occupation
(181 1-1816) Sir Stamford Raffles was Lieutenant-
Governor. He at once introduced reforms.
The native princes were displaced ; the village
community, with its common property and patri-
archal government, was modified ; a system of
criminal and civil justice, similar to that in force
in India, in which a European judge sat with
native assessors, was introduced ; the peasants
were given proprietary rights in the soil they
cultivated ; and complete political and commercial
liberty was established. An inquiry into the
nature of the respective rights in the soil of the
cultivator, the native princes, and the Govern-
ment resulted in establishing the fact that, of
* 12 florins = £, 1.
THE CULTURE SYSTEM. 1 49
the subject territory the Government was sole
owner of seven-tenths. Of the remainder, two-
tenths belonged to the Preanger Regents, and
one-tenth was occupied by private estates, chiefly
in the neighbourhood of Buitenzorg and Batavia.
In order to teach the native the western virtues
of industry and independence, Raffles determined
to introduce the Ryotwarree system. The
property in the land vested in the Government
was handed over to individual peasant proprietors.
In return for his land each proprietor was made
individually and personally responsible for the
payment of his land tax, and his land was liable
to be sold in satisfaction of his public or private
debts.
Before the English administration the peasant
had paid — (i) a land rent for his rice lands to
the native princes, amounting to a sum equivalent
to one-half of the produce of sawah (irrigated)
and one-third of tegal (unirrigated) lands ; and
(2) a tax of forced labour to the Dutch Govern-
ment, which took the form of unpaid labour in
the cultivation of the produce for export. Raffles
150 A VISIT TO JAVA.
abolished both, and in place of them he estab-
lished a fixed money payment equivalent to a
much smaller proportion of the produce of the
land than had been paid before to the native
princes alone.
The Dutch regained their East Indian posses-
sions by the Treaty of London. On their return
to Java, they restored the village community
with its joint ownership and joint liability, and
abolished all proprietary rights of the natives
in the soil, only allowing ownership of land
to Europeans. They contend that this at-
tempt of Raffles to apply Western principles
to an Eastern society had already proved dis-
astrous. The peasants, on the one hand, had
not acquired the habits necessary for the suc-
cessful development of their holdings, but, on
the other, through their inability to pay the
land rent, were becoming hopelessly involved
in debt to the Chinese and Arab money-lenders.
The broad fact, however, remains that during
the short period of British rule the revenue rose
from three and a half to seven and a half
THE CULTURE SYSTEM. 15 I
million florins, and the population from four to
five and a half millions.
As the old monopolies from which the chief
part of the revenue had formerly been derived
had been abolished by the policy of unrestricted
commerce introduced by Raffles, it was necessary
to find some other method of raising money. It
was decided to retain the land tax as a basis of
revenue, but, in order to make it more profitable,
a return was made to the original principle of
land tenure under native rule, by which the culti-
vator paid one-fifth of his labour and one-fifth
of his produce in return for the usufruct of the
land. One day of gratuitous labour in seven (the
European week) was substituted for one day in
five formerly given to the landlord. In certain
districts, namely, those of which the Dutch be-
came possessed by treaty and not by conquest,
this contribution in kind and labour was paid to
the native princes, and not to the Government.
On private estates, again, as the Government had
parted with their feudal rights in alienating the
property, a tax of three-fourths per cent, on the
152 A VISIT TO JAVA.
estimated value of the property was substituted.
This tax, called verpondi?ig, was at most equivalent
to one-fifth of the net yearly income.
As before, the produce due from the peasants
cultivating Government lands was commuted
into a money payment assessed upon the rice
crops ; but this payment was made, not by the
individual peasants, but by the wedanas, or vil-
lage chiefs, on behalf of the whole community.
Beside the land tax, an additional source of
income remained in the profit arising from the
sale of coffee, grown either by the Preanger
Regents and sold to the Government at prices
fixed by treaty, or on the coffee plantations estab-
lished by Marshall Daendels, which were now
restored.
These two methods of raising revenue were
resorted to by the Dutch upon their return to the
island, and continued in force during the period
1 8 16-1833. They were wholly inadequate.
Whether the Dutch were right or not in charac-
terizing Raffles' reforms as a failure, it is certain
that nothing could be more desperate than the
THE CULTURE SYSTEM. I 53
state of the island in the years immediately pre-
ceding the introduction of the culture system.
At the end of the period 18 16-1833 both revenue
and population seem to have become stationary.
The mass of the natives were becoming so im-
poverished that they ceased to be able to keep
a supply of domestic animals and implements
necessary for the cultivation of their lands. Apart
from the princes, there was no class, merchants
or tradespeople, possessing any wealth that could
be taxed. Not only was the revenue stagnant,
but, owing to a war with the sultans of the
interior, a debt of over 35,000,000 florins was
incurred by the Government. In a word, the
colony seemed likely to become an intolerable
burden to Holland. It was at this crisis that
General Van den Bosch proposed the culture
system as a means of rescuing the island from its
financial and social difficulties.
The immediate object of the culture system
was to extend the cultivation of sugar, coffee,
and other produce suited for European con-
sumption ; its ultimate object was to develop
154 A VISIT TO JAVA.
the resources of the island. This latter was,
of course, the most important. Van den Bosch
saw that the natives would never be able to do
this by themselves. In the first place, they were
still organized on the patriarchal model in village
communities ; and, in the second, owing to the
tropical climate and the extreme ease with which
life could be sustained in so fertile a country,
they were naturally indolent and unprogressive.
He therefore proposed to organize their labour
under European supervision. By this method
he thought that he would be able both to raise
the revenue and to improve the condition of
the peasants by teaching them to grow valuable
produce in addition to the rice crops on which
they depended for subsistence. Van den Bosch
became Governor-General of Java and its de-
pendencies in 1830. Before leaving Holland
he had made his proposals known, and obtained
the approval of the Netherlands Government.
He took with him newly appointed officials free
from colonial traditions, and his reforms inspired
such confidence, that a number of well-educated
THE CULTURE SYSTEM. I 55
and intelligent persons were willing to emigrate
with their families to Java in order to take up
the business of manufacturing the produce grown
under the new system. Upon his arrival in the
island, a special branch cf the Colonial Adminis-
tration was created. The first work of the new
department was to found the sugar industry.
It was necessary to supply the manufacturers
with both capital and income. Accordingly, a
sum amounting to ,£14,000 was placed to the
credit of each manufacturer in the books of the
department. Of this sum he was allowed to
draw up to .£125 per month for the expenses
of himself and his family during the first two
years. From the third year onwards he paid
back one-tenth annually. Thus at the end of
twelve years the capital was repaid. The
manufacturer was to apply the capital so ad-
vanced to the construction of the sugar-mill,
which was to be fitted with the best European
machinery, and worked by water-power. Free
labour, and timber from the Government planta-
tions, was supplied ; and the customs duties upon
156 A VISIT TO JAVA.
the machinery and implements imported were
remitted. The building of the mills was super-
vised by the controleurs, the officials of the new
department, and had to be carried out to their
satisfaction. The department also undertook to
see that the peasants in the neighbourhood of
each mill should have from seven hundred to a
thousand acres planted with sugar-canes by the
time the mills were in working order. In Java,
as in other Eastern countries, the landlord has the
right of selecting the crop which the tenant is to
plant, and therefore the peasants saw nothing
unusual in this action of the Government. The
controleurs ascertained, in the case of each village,
how much rice land was necessary for the sub-
sistence of the village, and they then ordered
the remainder, usually one-fifth, to be planted
with sugar-canes. At the same time, they
explained that the value of the crop of sugar
would be much greater than that of the rice
crop, and promised that the peasants should be
paid not only for the crops, but also for the
labour of cutting the canes and carrying them
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THE CULTURE SYSTEM. I 57
to the mill. When, at the end of two years,
the mills had been built and the plantations
established, another advance was made by the
department to the manufacturers. This was
capital sufficient to pay for the value of the sugar
crop, estimated as it stood, for the wages of the
peasants, and generally for the expenses of
manufacture. This second advance was at once
repaid by the produce of the mill. At first the
department required the manufacturer to deliver
the whole amount of produce to them at a price
one-third in excess of the cost of production.
Subsequently he was allowed the option of
delivering the whole crop to Government, or
of delivering so much of the produce only as
would pay for the interest on the crop advance,
together with the instalment of the original
capital annually due. Working on these terms,
large profits were made by the manufacturers,
and there soon came to be a demand for such
new contracts as the Government had at their
disposal.
As for the peasants, they were undoubtedly
158 A VISIT TO JAVA.
benefited by the introduction of the system.
While the land rent continued to be calculated
as before, on a basis of the produce of ricefields,
the value of the sugar crop was so much greater
than that of the rice, which it partially displaced,
that the money received for it amounted on the
average to twice the sum paid to Government
for land rent on the whole of the village land.
Moreover, although the estimated price of the
crop was paid to the wedanas, or village chiefs,
the wages for cutting and carrying were paid to
the peasants individually. The value of the crop,
the rate of wages, and the relations between the
peasants and the manufacturers generally, were
settled by the controleurs.
In 1 87 1, when the culture system was in full
operation, there were 39,000 bouzus, or 70,000
acres, under sugar-cane, giving employment to
222,000 native families, and ninety-seven sugar-
mills had been started. One-third of the
produce was delivered to Government at the
rate of eight florins per picul,* and the remain-
* The picul = 135 lbs.
THE CULTURE SYSTEM. I 59
ing two-thirds were sold by the manufacturers in
open market. In the five years 1 866-1 870 the
Government profit on sugar amounted to rather
more than 25,000,000 florins.
Subsequently the cultivation of coffee, indigo,
cochineal, tobacco, pepper, tea, and cinchona was
added to that of sugar. The system pursued
was not identical in the case of all produce.
Cochineal, indigo, tea, and tobacco were culti-
vated in a manner similar to that adopted for
suo-ar. But in the case of coffee, cinnamon, and
pepper it was not found necessary to have any
manufacturers between the controleurs and the
peasants. Of these coffee, the most important,
is grown on lands having an elevation of from
2000 to 4500 feet. Each head of a family
is required to plant a certain number of trees
in gardens (the maximum was fixed in 1877 at
fifty a year), and to keep a nursery of young
trees to replenish the plantations. These
gardens and nurseries are all inspected by
native and European officials. The process of
harvesting the berry is similarly supervised, but
160 A VISIT TO JAVA.
after that is accomplished the peasants are left
to dry, clean, and sort the berries by themselves,
and are allowed to deliver the crop at the coffee
stores at their own convenience. Finally, private
persons contract for periods of two or three years
to pack and transport the coffee to the central
stores at the ports. Of the coffee produced on
Government account, one-fifth only is sold in
Java, and the remainder is sent home to Europe
and sold there.
The culture system was so successful as a
financial expedient, that between the years 1831
and 1875 the colonial revenue yielded surpluses
to Holland amounting to 725,000,000 florins.
This total seems the more remarkable when
we know that from 1838 onwards, the colonial
revenue was charged with 200,000,000 florins
of the public debt of Holland, being the propor-
tion borne by Belgium before the separation of
the two countries, which took place at that date.
In 1876, however, the long series of surpluses
ceased, and they have since been replaced by
deficits almost as continuous. These deficits
THE CULTURE SYSTEM. l6l
are due to three well-ascertained causes : (i) the
Achin war, (2) public works, and (3) the fall
in the price of sugar and coffee. In order to
show that this remarkable change in the financial
fortunes of Java is in no way due to the culture
system, it is necessary to go somewhat more into
detail.
(1) Before the outbreak of the Achin war in
1873, the average expenditure of the Colonial
Government for military purposes was 30,000,000
florins annually. During the period 1873-1884
this expenditure rose to an average of 50,000,000
florins, and the total cost of the war during that
period amounted to 240,000,000 florins. Since
1884 the expenditure has been reduced by con-
fining the operations of the troops to such as
are purely defensive ; even then the average
annual expenditure has reached 40,000,000 florins.
(2) Since 1875 the construction of railways and
of other public works, notably the harbour works
at Tanjong Priok, the port of Batavia, has been
undertaken by Government. Since the cost has
been paid out of current revenue, and not raised
11
1 62 A VISIT TO JAVA.
by loans, these works have necessitated a further
annual expenditure of 8,000,000 florins. The
total sum spent in public works between the
years 1875-1884, amounting to 75,000,000 florins,
is almost exactly equivalent to the deficit incurred
during the same period.
(3) In suffering from the competition of France
in sugar, and of Brazil in coffee, Java has not
been peculiar. The British West Indian colonies
are at the present time most disastrously affected
by the bounty-fed sugar industry of France, and
Ceylon is only just learning how to compensate
itself for the diminution of its coffee export by
the introduction of a new industry — tea.
As for the general progress of the island, it
is sufficiently indicated by the fact that since
the date (1 83 1) of the introduction of the system,
the population has increased from six to twenty-
three millions, and the revenue from thirty million
florins to one hundred and thirty-two.
Although the culture system has yielded such
satisfactory results, it has been gradually
abandoned since 1871.
THE CULTURE SYSTEM. 1 63
The reason for this change of policy is the feel-
ing that the system, though necessary originally to
develop the resources of the island, is at variance
with the best interests of the natives, and hinders
the introduction of private enterprise and capital.
Increased commercial prosperity is expected to
compensate for the loss of revenue caused
by the withdrawal of the Government from the
work of production. In the mean time, it has
been found necessary to impose various new
and direct taxes. The most important of these
is a poll tax on the natives, which has taken
the place of the personal services formerly
rendered by them on the Government plan-
tations. Originally imposed in 1871, it yielded
two and a half million florins in 1886. Another
compensating source of revenue is the growth
of the verponding. As already mentioned, this
is a tax of three-fourths per cent, on the capital
value of house property and industrial plant.
It is assessed every three years, and therefore
is an accurate test of the growth of private
wealth invested in the colony. In the fifteen
1 64 A VISIT TO JAVA.
years from 1871 to 1886, the amount yielded by
this tax showed a growth of seventy-five per cent.
It is not necessary to detail the various steps
by which the Dutch have carried out this policy
of abandonment. It is sufficient to note the
general result.
To-day all industries, with the exception of
coffee, opium, and salt, are free. In the pro-
duction of the two latter, opium and salt, the
Colonial Government maintains a complete
monopoly ; in the case of coffee they compete
with the planters. The extent of the shares
respectively taken by the Government and
private enterprise in the trade of the island is
exhibited by the following returns for 1889 : —
Imports. Exports.
Government ... 13,009,445 florins 33>07 2 > x 75 florins
Private persons ... 160,375,326 „ 164,590,439 „
Total ... i73>384>77i » 197,662,614 „
The Government still produces two-thirds of
the coffee crop. In 1889 the amount produced
respectively by the Government and the planters
was 578,000 and 356,000 piculs.
THE CULTURE SYSTEM. 1 65
Of the two chief industries of the island, sugar
and coffee, the exports in 1890 amounted in
value to fifty and fifteen million florins re-
spectively. To these must be added two new
industries — tea and cinchona bark. The former
is only in its infancy, and is confined to the
immediate neighbourhood of Soekaboemi, the
head-quarters of the planting interest in Java.
Here there are two important estates, Sinagar
and Parakan Salak, which are from 12,000 to
15,000 acres in extent. The latter industry is
especially hopeful. In 1890 the area of cinchona
plantations was 22,500 acres, and 6,000,000
pounds of bark, containing four per cent, of
sulphate of quinine, was exported. This amount
is equivalent to half the world's supply for the
year.
Of the import trade it is not necessary to
say more than that the most important item
is that of the various cotton goods, coming
mainly from this country, which serve the natives
with material for clothing suitable for their
tropical climate. It is also important to re-
1 66 A VISIT TO JAVA.
member that there are a quarter of a million
Chinese residents in the island, by whom all the
retail, and part of the wholesale, trade is con-
ducted.
Last year the administration of Java was the
subject of a severe criticism in the Netherlands
Parliament. The complaints were chiefly directed
against the conduct of the Achin war, the opium
monopoly, and the continued interference of the
Government in the coffee industry. The reply
of Baron Mackay, the colonial minister at the
Hague, was in substance as follows : —
The Achin war, he said, was the result
of unavoidable circumstances, and neither the
Colonial nor the Home Government could be
regarded as responsible for the loss of revenue
involved in it. He added, however, that
" excellent results were expected from the
blockade system " now adopted, and that there
were already signs that the Atchinese would
before long be brought to terms. With regard
to the sale of opium, he assured the States-
General that " every possible means were being
THE CULTURE SYSTEM. 1 67
taken to reduce the sale of the drug-, and to
remedy its evil effects." He frankly recognized
the importance of the question of coffee-culture,
but at the same time urged the advisability of
maintaining the system for the present. It was
not certain, in the first place, that the existing
system could be changed with advantage ; and,
in the second, " no product in the immediate
future could be looked for to replace coffee as
a source of revenue."
Undoubtedly the resources of Java are at the
present time subjected to a heavy strain. On
the other hand, it must not be forgotten that
(1) the burden of the Achin war may be at
any time removed, and (2) all public works are
being paid for out of current revenue without
recourse to loans. There is, therefore, no
reasonable ground for supposing that the
present financial difficulties of the Colonial
Government are more than temporary. A
dance at the balance-sheet of the island for
the year 1889 shows to what an extent the
difficulties are due to an increasing sense of
1 68 A VISIT TO JAVA.
responsibility towards the natives, and to an
intention to eventually open all the industries
of this singularly fertile island to private enter-
prise.
Heads of Revenue and Expenditure for 1889 in
Million Florins.
Revenue.
Expenditure.
x. aXLo ••• • * • •••
40
Instruction
10
Monopolies
3i
Army and navy
40
Sale of produce (of this
Public works (of this
coffee contributes 37,
railways cost 10)
20
sugar 2)
49
Administration, etc.
60
Other sources (railways,
school fees, etc.)
14
In round numbers ... 134 130
When the natives have been educated and
the industries of the island freed from unnatural
restrictions, financial and commercial prosperity
will return to Java.
( 1 69 )
CHAPTER X.
ON A COFFEE PLANTATION.
The Tji Wangi bungalow — Coffee plantations — Cinchona —
Native labour — A wayang — Country-bred ponies — Bob
and the ducks — Loneliness of a planter's life.
Horace's remark,* "Those that cross the sea
change temperature, not temperament," is espe-
cially true of the Englishman out of England.
The room in which I was now seated differed
in scarcely anything from the regulation "den"
of every Englishman, whether in Scotland or
Timbuctoo. From the French windows I could
see smooth lawns and bright flower-beds, while
beyond appeared the dark green plantations
surmounted with grey mountain heights. Photo-
graphic groups and etchings shared the task of
decorating the walls with riding-gear and Indian
* " Coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt,"
1 JO A VISIT TO J A VA.
knives. The writing-table was strewn with
photograph-frames of all sorts and sizes. The
black "boy" who brought tea and whisky and
Apollinaris, alone gave a hint of " foreign parts."
The house itself stood 3500 feet above sea-level ;
but some of the estate (which covered 800 acres)
rose nearly 1000 feet higher still. At this
altitude the temperature was never excessively
hot : at midday it averaged 70° ; certainly it
never approached the heat of Batavia ; and that
night I did what I had not done before in Java
■ — slept with a blanket over me.
The next morning, two handsome Sandalwood
ponies were brought round, and H took me
over the estate. We rode between coffee and
cinchona plantations on roads of various widths
cut in zigzags or curves up the mountain sides,
sometimes with the sun blazing full above us,
sometimes shaded by the light foliage of the
albizzias, until we reached a rough stone
monument which marked the highest point.
In the higher ranges we sometimes came upon
a piece of bush with the tall rosamala trees
•flap
Iff
I
\
—^
"V-
"Y,
j"
s
• \
JSP* 6 * 6 **
ROSAMALA TREES.
Page 170.
ON A COFFEE PLANTATION. I /I
still standing ; or caught a glimpse of wide
plains, bounded in the far-off distance by lofty
mountains.
On more than one occasion H stopped to
talk to the natives. They were engaged in
weeding — the heaviest work on the plantation,
since, in the hothouse atmosphere of Java,
continual labour is required to keep down the
rapidly growing plants of all kinds, which would
otherwise impoverish the soil and choke the
coffee trees. He usually addressed the mandors %
or native foremen, but once or twice he spoke
sharply to an idle or careless worker. His
method, he explained, was to treat them with
strict justice, but merciless severity : both were
necessary to secure their respect, adding that
it was useless for a man who was not respected
to have anything to do with native labour.
It was during many such rides, supplemented
by visits to the factory and long after-dinner
talks with many different persons, that I learnt
something of the ins and outs of a planter's life.
Although the Dutch Government are gradually
172 A VISIT TO JAVA.
abandoning the "culture" or "Government-plan-
tation " system, the change is too recent to per-
mit as yet of the full development of private
enterprise in the island. Even now there are
Government plantations in every village, in which
the natives are compelled to work without wages.
Of course, it is easy to undersell the planters by
produce raised on these conditions. In addition
to the direct Government competition, they
complained of export duties on their coffee and
cinchona, and of ad valorem property taxes upon
their plantations and buildings. Altogether, I
gathered, the planters considered themselves very
badly treated ; but they had just formed an asso-
ciation in order to maintain their interests, and
to take concerted action against the assistant-
residents and the officials generally, who some-
times failed to appreciate the benefit conferred
upon the country by the making of roads and
other similar improvements.
The average size of the Javan coffee planta-
tions is from 400 to 500 acres. At Tji Wangi
there were 500 acres laid down in coffee, and 300
ON A COFFEE PLANTATION. I 73
in cinchona. Part of the plantation was new,
and H had done some clearing since he had
taken over the estate. He described the pro-
cess. The first thing to be done was to clear
the forest. The trees were felled ; the light
timber — underwood and branches — was removed
or burnt, but the huge trunks, bare and blackened,
were left upon the ground. Indeed, I saw many
such trunks, affording a curious contrast to the
young plants growing around them. After this,
he had formed plantations of albizzias (a slight,
tall tree, with a foliage resembling that of the
accacia), and planted the young trees, when they
were sufficiently grown, at intervals upon the
ground he had just cleared. Finally, the coffee
trees, which had been grown from seedlings, and
had remained in the nurseries for a year, were
planted in rows, six or seven feet apart, under
the shelter thus provided for them by the albiz-
zias. The coffee trees do not bear until their
third year. At the fifth year they reach maturity,
and then continue in their prime for as long as
ten or fifteen years. Those grown upon the
174 A VISIT TO JAVA.
higher, and therefore cooler, ranges will some-
times remain in first-rate condition for even a
longer time.
H gathered a branch to show me the
berry. It was like an acorn with the cup taken
off in shape, and of a reddish-brown colour.
These berries are harvested ordinarily at the
beginning of the dry monsoon, i.e. in April or
May. As the coolies are paid in proportion to the
amount they gather, the whole crop is first of all
measured. It is then put into a pulping-machine,
and the husk or outer covering removed. The
coffee is now said to be in the parchment, i.e.
the two lobes of the bean are still covered by a
parchment-like skin, and in this condition the
bean is washed down into the fermenting-tanks,
where it remains for thirty-six hours. After a
final washing, it is dried in the sun in large
wooden trays running on wheels, or else on
concrete platforms. Most of the J a van coffee is
sent off to Europe while it is still in the husk,
in order that it may present a better appearance
in the European markets. At Tji Wangi, how-
ON A COFFEE PLANTATION. 175
ever, the whole work of preparation was done
on the estate.
As is well known, the civilized world is indebted
for its increased supply of quinine to Mr. Charles
Ledger, the naturalist. In a subsequent chapter
I have given Mr. Ledger's interesting account
of the manner in which he succeeded, after
various adventures, in the course of which oc-
curred the death of his faithful Indian servant,
Manuel, in procuring a small quantity of Cinchona
calisaya seed from Bolivia, part of which was
sold to the British and part to the Dutch East
India Governments. It is from the nurseries
thus formed that the plantations of Java and
Ceylon were stocked.
In Java the cinchona is ordinarily grown by
grafting slips from a hybrid or Ledgeriana of
known quality on to the Succirnbra stem. The
succirubra grows fast, but yields only a small
percentage of quinine ; the hybrid contains from
ten to sixteen per cent, of sulphate of quinine.
By this device a combination of quick growth
and good bearing qualities is obtained, since the
176
A VISIT TO JAVA.
hybrid thus formed bears as freely as the graft.
The cinchona crop is harvested whenever it is
convenient, independently of the seasons, but
generally at the same time as the coffee. The
quinine is contained in the bark of the tree.
The first crop of a plantation consists of branch
bark. After the plants have been growing for
about six years, a whole row is taken out. In
this case the trees are entirely removed not
' barked ' at all, and the whole of the bark, even
that of the roots, is utilized. It is separated from
WOMEN BARKING CINCHONA.
the wood by beating the stems with sticks or
wooden hammers. This is done by women, who
sit in circles round large trays, into which they
drop the bark as it falls off. It is then left to
dry, and afterwards collected and placed in long
ON A COFFEE PLANTATION. iyj
wooden troughs, where it is stamped fine with
heavy wooden stampers. In this condition it is
packed into round bales. Finally, both coffee
and cinchona are transported by coolies to the
nearest railway station.
It is in respect of labour that the Javan
planters have an advantage over those of Ceylon.
At Tji Wangi from 125 to 600 coolies were
employed according to the season of the year.
They were paid at the rate of 20, 15, and 10
cents (or 4^., $d., and 2d.) respectively for a man,
woman, or child per clay ; the mandors, or
foremen, however, received from 30 to 40 cents
per day. Yet so simple and cheap are the
necessaries of life in Java, that in this district
a good master has no difficulty in getting
Javanese or Sundanese natives to work for
him at this rate of payment, and the plantation
cooly, in spite of his low wages, manages to enjoy
his two days' holiday every week in the year.
H said that the average cost of living per
head among his coolies was not more than 10
cents, or 2d., per day. It should be added, how-
12
178 A VISIT TO JAVA.
ever, that the rate of wages varies in the different
residencies. In those in which there are large
towns, especially in the eastern districts, the
native workers, both coolies and artisans, are paid
at a considerably higher rate than they are in the
Preanger Regencies.
I have already mentioned the wayang as one
of the most popular amusements of the natives,
and I shall have something more to say about
it in connection with the native literature. At
Tji Wangi I had an opportunity of witnessing
this performance in its simplest form, i.e. the
wayang klitik, in which the puppets are exhibited
themselves to the audience instead of being made
to project shadows on a transparent screen.
Here, as at most plantations, it was customary
for the weekly market, held after pay-day, to be
followed by a wayang.
When I reached the factory I found that the
wages were being paid. The coolies were
seated (or rather squatted) on the ground in rows
inside the coffee-washing shed, while H sat
at a table, with his manager and foremen stand-
ON
So
o
z
<!
<
Q
ON A COFFEE PLANTATION. I 79
ing round him. After receiving- their wages, the
crowd of natives flocked through the factory
gates to an open space in front of the store-
house. Here the different itinerant vendors
had already arranged their goods on stalls or on
the ground. There were all manner of cottons
and silks, trinkets and hardwares. In addition
to these, queer edibles were to be seen — little
dishes of pickled vegetables and cured fish, fruits
and cakes, even gold-fish. These latter were
kept in vessels filled with water, so that the fish
could be put back into the ponds again if they
were not sold.
It was a pretty scene, this crowd of bright-
coloured humanity. The skin of the Javanese is
little darker than that of the Italian, and his clothes
are gloriously picturesque. As usual, the hats,
jackets, scarfs, and sarongs displayed every shade
of colour and variety of pattern. The wayang
did not beo-in until the evening. The chief
performer, called the dalang, or manager, squatted
on the ground before two poles of bamboo placed
horizontally at a height of about three feet, into
I So A VISIT TO JAVA.
which he stuck the puppets, taking them from
a box placed by his side. He chanted a long
legendary tale taken from the ancient Javan
literature, and dealing with the times before the
European occupation of the island. At intervals
he broke into a dialogue, when he worked the
puppets' arms and legs with wires, so that they
seemed to be acting their several parts. Behind
the dalang was a gamelan, or series of gongs
mounted on a wooden frame much like an ordinary
couch. These gon^s were struck with wooden
hammers by other members of the company, and
thus served as an orchestra. It was interesting
to observe the deep attention with which the
audience followed the movements of the puppets,
and listened to the recitations and dialogue.
H said they would sit there listening for
hours, far into the night, without getting tired.
Owing to the restrictive trade policy of the
Government, the planters, as a class, are much
more identified with the native princes than with
the Dutch officials. In a subsequent chapter I
shall have occasion to speak of the development
ON A COFFEE PLANTATION. 1 S I
of horse-racing in Java, and of the support which
is given to the movement by the native princes.
At Tji Wangi I was shown a recent importation
from Sydney — Lonely, who was destined to lower
the colours of the Regent of Tjandjoer recently
carried to victory by Thistle, also an Australian
horse. The stables (like everything else in Java)
were built of bamboo. They were kept in first-
rate order. The stalls were occupied chiefly by
country-bred ponies, the progeny of the native
races of the neighbouring islands of Sandalwood
and Timor. H said modestly that his stud
was a very small one, but that if I would visit
a Dutch neiehbour I should see a stud of fifteen
racers, beside brood mares. Race meetings and
the various social oratherino-s connected with them
are among the most important resources of the
planter's life. H 's nearest European neigh-
bours were seven miles away, and he said that
he could seldom entertain visitors at Tji Wangi,
because of the scarcity of game in the neighbour-
hood. Indeed, the loneliness of the life is its
great objection. The case of the Dutch planters
l8> A VISIT TO JAVA.
is rather different. They are often married, and>
with their managers, form quite a little society
of their own. But an Englishman rarely has the
courage to bring a wife so far from home. In
most cases it is the near prospect of returning
with a fortune which alone makes so isolated an
existence bearable.
Under these circumstances, it was not strange
that H should keep a number of canine
pets. Among them Bob, an English bulldog, was
his favourite. He was as good-natured as he
was ugly, seldom misbehaving, even when
tempted beyond doggish endurance by the
proximity of dark skins and waving drapery.
On one occasion, however, he did give way to
anger ; but it must be admitted that he had
provocation. H had some black ducks
which he had carefully reared to ornament the
little lake in the garden. One afternoon, when
Master Bob was taking his siesta in the neiwh-
bourhood of the kitchen, with his small white
teeth protruding, after the manner of bulldogs,
from his black lips, and gleaming in the light, an
ON A COFFEE PLANTATION. 1 83
unfortunate duck came by. Seeing the white
oblong- masses in the region of Bob's mouth, she
very naturally concluded that they were grains
of rice left by the careless quadruped. Acting
upon this theory, she hastily essayed to seize the
morsel. The impact of her bill upon his nose
woke Bob in terrible indignation. A short scuffle
and a plaintive quack, and that duck's career
was ended. But that was not all. So serious
did the bulldog consider this insult to his dignity
that, in spite of repeated castigations, he never
rested until he had killed the whole of the
remaining brood of ducks.*
Bob's predecessor in office had been poisoned
by a native cook. " But I got her two months,"
H added, "and told my people that I had
sent for another bulldog from England, and that
if they poisoned him I should send for six more."
" But you once told me you had your house
broken into. How did that happen ? ' : This
* Whenever I think of Bob and the ducks I remember
that line of Virgil, in which he tells of Juno's hatred of the
Trojans—" Sternum servans sub pectore vulnus."
184 A VISIT TO JAVA.
was in one of our talks in the smoking-room after
o
dinner.
" It wasn't a very exciting business," he replied.
"All I know was that the money was gone the
next morning. The night before I was very
tired and slept soundly ; when I woke up I found
my despatch-box gone. I summoned my people
and set them to look for it ; it was found about
a hundred yards away, with the papers in it, but
the money gone. About a month afterwards I
discovered that one of the natives had been
spending more money than he could account for,
and, by the help of the native police, I got him
convicted and sentenced to transportation for
four years. There were three men concerned,
but the others escaped through insufficient
evidence. One of the stable boys had pulled
up the bolts of the front door, and the thieves
had quietly walked in, taken the box outside,
and broken it open. It was a mere accident
— my putting the money into the despatch-box
instead of into the safe ; but, of course, I took
precautions against a repetition of the affair. I
ON A COFFEE PLANTA TION.
I8 5
had my safe fastened into the ground, and the
two safes at the office were built into the wall,
as you saw.
" Now, you see, they know there's always a
revolver here " — pointing to the desk — " and an-
other by my bedside at night. There are a couple
of guns there, but of course they would not be
any good, although the bowie-knife hanging by
them would. I always have two dogs in the
house, one here and one in my bedroom, and
there are five or six outside."
COFFEE BERRIES
1 85 A VISIT TO JAVA.
CHAPTER XI.
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE.
Mr. Wallace and the Malay Archipelago — Animals— Birds
— General characteristics of plants—European flora in
mountains — Darwin's explanation — Fruits — History of
cinchona introduction— Mr. Ledger's story — Indiarubber.
No less than eight years (1854 — 1862) were
employed by Mr. Wallace, the naturalist, in
" the study of man and nature " in the Malay
Archipelago. During this period he collected
a vast number of specimens of animals and
plants, and, some years after his return to
England, gave the results of his travels to the
world in his " Malay Archipelago." The general
conclusions which Mr. Wallace was led to form
are of such interest, that I shall endeavour very
briefly to lay them before the reader.
In the first place, the evidence supplied by
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE. 1 87
the nature of the distribution of the various
plants and animals is such as to point to the
belief that the whole Archipelago is composed
of fragments of two separate continents. The
Malay islands must, therefore, be divided into
two groups. Of these groups the first, roughly-
consisting of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the
Philippines, once formed part of the continent of
Asia ; while in the second, the Celebes, Flores,
Timor, the Moluccas, and New Guinea, we have
fragments of a great Pacific continent, which
has been gradually and irregularly broken up.
The inhabitants of the former region, to which
Mr. Wallace gives the name Inclo-Malayan,
are Malays ; those of the latter, the Austro-
Malayan, are Papuans.
Secondly, the intervening seas, which surround
the various islands which have now taken the
place of these former continental tracts, have
been formed by the subsidence of land from
which the foundations have been withdrawn
by the continued activity of a long volcanic
chain which traverses the Archipelago from
1 88 A VISIT TO JAVA.
end to end. And therefore, strange as it may
seem at first sight, the fertile island of Java,
with its rich plains and abundant vegetation
— so unlike the traditional barrenness of a
volcanic region — is the work of this subterranean
energy.
" The island of Java contains more volcanoes,
active and extinct, than any other known
district of equal extent. They are about forty-
five in number, and many of them exhibit
most beautiful examples of the volcanic cone
on a large scale, single or double, with entire
or truncated summits, and averaging 10,000
feet high." *
Thirdly, not only did Sumatra, Java, and
Borneo once form part of the continent of Asia,
but the subsidence of land which caused their
separation from the continent, and from each
other, is of very recent date — recent, that is,
in the scale of geological eras. This is shown
by the fact that the separating seas are so
shallow that to-day ships can anchor anywhere in
* " Malay Archipelago."
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE. 189
them. We shall, therefore, expect a strong-
similarity, almost amounting - to a complete
identity, to exist between the animals and plants
of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo and those of
Southern India, Burmah, and the Malay
Peninsular. Such, according to Mr. Wallace,
is the fact.
" The elephant and tapir of Sumatra and
Borneo, the rhinoceros of Sumatra and the
allied species of Java, the wild cattle of Borneo,
and the kind long supposed to be peculiar to
Java, are now all known to inhabit some part or
other of Southern Asia. . . . Birds and insects
illustrate the same view, for every family and
almost every genus of these groups found in
any of the islands occurs also in the Asiatic
continent, and in a great number of cases the
species are exactly identical."
In addition to the rhinoceros and wild cattle
mentioned above, the wild animals of Java
include the jackal, the tiger, and several
species of monkeys. Snakes and alligators are
also to be found in the island. There is a
190 A VISIT TO JAVA.
good supply of domestic animals with the
exception of sheep. This useful animal was
so entirely unknown to the natives, that when
the Dutch attempted to introduce it into the
island it was necessary to find a name for it.
It was accordingly called a "Dutch goat;" nor
is there at the present time any other term
in the Malay language by which the animal
can be designated. I have already spoken of
the utility of the Javan horses. They are im-
ported in large numbers from the neighbouring
island of Sandalwood, and great attention is
being paid to the production of country-breds.
An attempt is also being made to improve the
breed by the importation of English and
Australian thoroughbreds. I was also informed
that in recent years a number of cattle had
been introduced from India. As in most
Eastern countries, the ox is used in Java for
drawing carts and for other agricultural purposes ;
but the buffalo is the most valuable of all
animals to the natives, by whom it is especially
employed in the cultivation of the ricefields.
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE. 191
The only dangerous animal is the tiger, and
the sport of tiger-hunting still forms one of
the recreations of the native princes.
The birds of Java are distinguished for their
variety and for the rich plumage with which they
are adorned. During a single month passed in
Ardjoeno, a mountain situated in the regency
of Paseroean, in the east of the island, Mr.
Wallace collected ninety-eight species of birds.
Among these he mentions the Javan peacock,
of which he obtained two specimens more than
seven feet long; the jungle fowl (Gallus furcatus);
the jungle cock [Gallics baukiva), called by the
natives bekeko ; various species of woodpeckers
and kingfishers ; a hornbill (Buceros lunatus) more
than four feet long; and a "pretty little lorikeet
{Loriculus pusillus) scarcely more than as many
inches." When he visited the west of the island,
he found still more valuable specimens in the
Preanger regencies, twenty miles south of
Buitenzorgf. Among the mountains of this
neighbourhood, and at an elevation of 4000
feet, he collected in a fortnight forty species of
192 A VISIT TO JAVA.
birds, "almost all of which were peculiar to the
Javanese fauna." In these were included the
" elegant yellow-and-green trogon {Harpactes
Reinwardti) ; the gorgeous little minivet fly-
catcher (Pericrocotus miniatus), which looks like
a flame of fire as it flutters among the bushes ;
and the rare and curious black-and-crimson oriole
(Analcipus sanguinolentus)." Mr. Wallace also
speaks of the rare and beautiful butterflies which
he captured here. In particular he secured a
specimen of the calliper butterfly, " remarkable
for having on each hind wing two curved tails
like a pair of callipers."
It is in this neighbourhood that the large Javan
wood-pigeons which I saw at Tji Wangi are to
be found. As they are excellent eating, they are
shot by the planters, though it is often difficult
to get within range of them owing to the height
of the rosamala trees in which they settle.
There are certain characteristic developments
of plant-life which arrest the attention of the
traveller in Java.
In the towns he cannot fail to be impressed
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE. 1 93
with the large-leaved and gorgeously coloured
shrubs which surround the houses of the Euro-
pean residents ; he will notice, too, that the
streets and open spaces are planted with
waringin and tamarind trees, and when he
travels into the interior he will find that the
roads which traverse the island are still lined
by the same trees. Of these the former is a
species of ficus ; the latter, the tamarind, has
been introduced from Madagascar. Towards
the end of the year it is covered with orange
blossoms, which finally develop into a somewhat
acid fruit. In the country the dwellings of the
Javan peasants are almost universally surrounded
by palms, bananas, and bamboos. While the
palms and bananas supply the native with fruit,
from the bamboo he has learnt to make number-
less useful articles, ranging from a house or a
boat to a drinking- vessel or a musical instrument.
Cooking-utensils, baskets, hats, and all manner of
tools are constructed out of the material provided
by this useful tree. While I was staying at a
friend's house at Weltevreden I had a singular
13
194 A VISIT TO JAVA.
illustration of the variety of uses to which the
bamboo could be put by observing the method
of cutting the grass adopted by a native gardener.
He was squatting on the ground, and had by his
side about half a dozen sections into which he
had split some bamboo rods about two feet in
length. These he rapidly passed over the grass
backwards and forwards with a semicircular
sweep, and their sharp edges mowed the grass
down as cleanly as the blade of a scythe. In
this way he cleared a space around him, and,
gradually advancing, eventually trimmed off the
whole plot of grass.
The tropical forests, again, are characterized
by a remarkable uniformity and sombreness
which gives them an aspect quite unlike that
of European woods. The vast cylindrical trunks
of the great forest trees, rising like pillars from
the midst of ferns and lesser growths, support
a lofty roof of leaves. Beneath this screen in-
numerable forms of plant-life develop without
let or hindrance, and the whole abundant foliage
is bound into an inextricable mass by parasites
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE. 1 95
and creepers. On every side the eye is met by
one monotonous tone of verdure, for the supremely
favourable conditions for plant-life which obtains
tend to produce a total effect, not of variety, but
of sameness.
One of the most interesting facts connected
with the Javan flora is the appearance of Euro-
pean flowers upon the higher levels of the moun-
tains. The phenomenon is the more remarkable
in the face of the consideration that the seeds of
such flowers are so heavy, and the distance from
their present habitat so great, as to negative the
supposition that they have been carried by the
wind ; nor can their presence be satisfactorily
referred to the agency of birds.
At first sight, therefore, the existence of
flowers such as the violet, the buttercup, and the
honeysuckle in an island south of the equator,
and surrounded by vegetation of a totally
different order, appeared to be so inexplicable
that the hypothesis of a separate and distinct
origin was advanced. A more satisfactory
explanation has, however, been furnished by
196 A VISIT TO JAVA.
Darwin, which is now generally accepted. Very
briefly, this is as follows. It is supposed that
at the time of the glacial epoch the depression
of temperature was so great as to admit of the
prevalence in the tropics of forms of plants
now peculiar to the temperate regions of the
north. As the heat increased, such plants
retreated from the tropics, for the most part
northwards, but not exclusively. Following the
snow-line, they also climbed to the cool heights
of the lofty mountains of Central India and of
Abyssinia, and even crossed the equator. They
now linger upon the summits of the Javan
mountains, and furnish by their presence an
additional proof of the original union of the
western islands of the Archipelago with the
continent of Asia.
During his stay at Buitenzorg, Mr. Wallace
ascended the mountains Pangerango and Gede.
He describes this expedition as "by far the
most interesting incident" of his visit to Java,
and gives a full account of the various European
plants which he found growing at different
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE. 1 97
altitudes. In particular he mentions the royal
cowslip (Primula imp erialis), "which is said to
be found nowhere else in the world but on this
solitary mountain summit," and the stem of
which he found sometimes ofrowinsf to a height
of over three feet. The list of families of
European plants growing upon Pangerango and
Gede given by another scientific traveller, Mr.
Motley, includes, among others, such familiar
names as the violet, the buttercup, the primula,
the lily of the valley, the honeysuckle and the
wood-sorrel. I have already mentioned the fact
that it is found possible to grow all European
plants (but not fruits) in the mountain garden
which is established on the slopes of Gede, and
which forms part of the Government gardens.
Of the tropical fruits in general I am inclined
to think that their excellences have been very
much over-estimated. There is nothing to equal
or approach a fine jargonelle pear, a peach, or
hothouse grapes. The orange, cocoanut, banana,
and mango are so well known as to need no
special description. In addition to these, the
198 A VISIT TO JAVA.
commonest fruit are the pomelo, the mangosteen,
the duku, the rambutan, and the durian. The
pomelo is six or seven inches in diameter, with
a smooth green exterior, not unlike that of a
water-melon ; the fruit is pink in colour, and
easily breaks up into sections. It tastes like a
very dry and rather acid orange, and the peel
makes an excellent bitter in sherry. The
rambutan resembles a horse-chestnut in size
and appearance, except that its shaggy exterior
is red instead of green. The duku and
mangosteen, on the other hand, are smooth and
green, and in other respects resemble a walnut.
All three, rambutan, duku, and mangosteen,
provide a gelatinous substance with a delicate
acid flavour. The durian is as large as a cocoa-
nut, and its exterior is armed with spikes ; the
fruit is soft and pulpy, tasting like a custard in
flavour, but it has a horrible smell, and possesses
strong laxative qualities. Mr. Wallace devotes
several pages to a description of its various
qualities, remarking that " to eat durians is a
new sensation, worth a voyage to the East to
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE. 1 99
experience." Credat Jtidcsus non ego. There is
also a species of green orange, with a very thin
skin and fine acid flavour, to be obtained in Java.
A general view of the products of the island
has already been given in Junghuhn's table in
Chapter II., and some of the more important
have been subsequently described at length.
Any account of the plants of Java would,
however, be incomplete without a narrative
of the introduction of cinchona into the East
Indies.
This plant, from the bark of which quinine
is obtained, is a native of Peru, and for a
long time the Peruvian Government jealously
maintained exclusive possession of it. Forty
years ago, the Dutch Colonial Government
despatched Haskarl, one of the officials of the
Buitenzorg gardens, to Peru for the purpose of
procuring cinchona seed. He succeeded in
obtaining some seed of a very inferior quality,
and the plantations produced from it were prac-
tically useless. In 1866, however, both the British
and Dutch Indian Governments purchased small
200 A VISIT TO JAVA.
quantities of seed from Mr. Charles Ledger.
From this seed the very valuable plantations of
Java and Ceylon have been propagated. I have
already described the method of cultivating
Cinchona Ledgeriana adopted by the planters,
and how advantage is taken of the extreme
liability of the cinchona plant to hybridization.
The manner in which the seed was secured forms
an interesting episode in the history of scientific
botany. The story is told by Mr. Ledger in a
letter to his brother published in the Field of
Feb. 5, 1 88 1, in which it will be seen that these
seeds were obtained at the cost of the life of
Manuel, the naturalist's faithful Indian servant.
" While engaged in my alpaca enterprise of
1856, a Bolivian Indian, Manuel Tucra Mamami,
formerly and afterwards a cinchona bark-cutter,
was accompanying me with two of his sons. He
accompanied me in almost all my frequent
journeys into the interior, and was very useful in
examining the large quantities of cinchona bark
and alpaca wool I was constantly purchasing.
He and his sons were very much attached to me,
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE. 201
and I placed every confidence in them. Sitting
round our camp-fire one evening, as was our
custom after dinner, conversing on all sorts of
topics, I mentioned what I had read as to Mr.
Clement R. Markham's mission in search of
cinchona seeds. Now, Manuel had been with me
in three of my journeys into the cinchona districts
of the Yungas of Bolivia, where I had to go
looking after laggard contractors for delivery of
bark. It was while conversing on the subject of
Mr. Markham's journey, and wondering which
route he would take, etc., that Manuel greatly
surprised me by saying, ' The gentleman will not
leave the Yungas in good health if he really
obtains the rogo plants and seeds.' Manuel was
always very taciturn and reserved. I said nothing
at the time, there being some thirty more of my
Indians sitting round the large fire. The next
day he reluctantly told me how every stranger on
entering the Yungas was closely watched un-
observed by himself ; how several seed-collectors
had their seed changed ; how their germinating
power was destroyed by their own guides,
202 A VISIT TO JAVA.
servants, etc. He also showed me how all the
Indians most implicitly believe, if, by plants or
seeds from the Yungas, the cinchonas are success-
fully propagated in other countries, all their own
trees will perish. Such, I assure you, is their
superstition. Although there are no laws pro-
hibiting the cinchona seed or plants being taken
out of the country, I have seen private instructions
from the prefect in La Paz ordering strictest
vigilance to prevent any person taking seed or
plants out of the country. More than half a dozen
times I have had my luggage, bedding, etc.,
searched when coming out of the valley of the
Yungas.
" You are aware how I am looked upon as a
doctor by the Indians. Well, one day I said,
' Manuel, I may some day require some seed and
flowers of the famous white flower, Rogo
cascarrilla, as a remedy ; and I shall rely upon
you not deceiving me in the way you have told
me.' He merely said, ' Patron, if you ever require
such seed and flowers, I will not deceive you.
And I thought no more about it.
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE. 203
" Manuel was never aware of my requiring
seed and leaves for propagating purposes ; he was
always told they were wanted to make a special
remedy for a special illness. For many years,
since 1844, I had felt deeply interested in seeing
Europe, and my own dear country in particular,
free from being dependent on Peru or Bolivia for
its supply of life-giving quinine. 'Remembering
and relying on Manuel's promise tome in 1856, I
resolved to do all in my power to obtain the very
best cinchona seed produced in Bolivia.
" His son Santiago went to Australia with me
in 1858. In 1 86 1, the day before sending back
to South America Santiago and the other Indians
who had accompanied me there as shepherds of
the alpacas, I bought 200 Spanish dollars, and
said to him, ' You will give these to your father.
Tell him I count on his keeping his promise to
get me forty to fifty pounds of rogo cinchona
(white flower) seed. He must get it from trees
we had sat under together when trying to reach
the Mamore river in 1851 : to meet me at Tacna
(Peru) by May, 1863. If not bringing pure, ripe
204 A VISIT TO JAVA.
rogo seed, flowers, and leaves, never to look for
me again.'
" I arrived back in Tacna on the 5th of
January, 1865. I at once sent a message to
Manuel, informing him of my arrival. At the
end of May he arrived with his precious seed.
It is only now, some twenty-four years after poor
Manuel promised not to deceive me, manifest how
faithfully and loyally he kept his promise. I say
poor Manuel, because, as you know, he lost his
life while trying to get another supply of the
same class of seed for me in 1872-3. You are
aware, too, how later on I lost another old Indian
friend, poor Poli, when bringing seed and flowers
in 1877.
" I feel thoroughly convinced in my own mind
that such astonishingly rich quinine-yielding trees
as those in Java are not known to exist (in any
quantity) in Bolivia. These wonderful trees are
only to be found in the Caupolican district in
Eastern Yungas. The white flower is specially
belonging to the cinchona ' rogo ' of Apolo.
" You will call to mind, no doubt, the very
ANIMAL AND PLANT LIFE. 205
great difficulties you had to get this wonderful
' seed ' looked at, even ; how a part was purchased
by Mr. Money for account of our East Indian
Government for ,£50 under condition of 10,000
germinating. Though 60,000 plants were success-
fully raised from it by the late Mr. Mclver, I
only received the ^50.
" The seed taken by the Netherlands Govern-
ment cost it barely £^0.
" Such, then, is the story attaching to the now
famous Cinchona Ledgeriana, the source of
untold wealth to Java, Ceylon, and, I hope, to
India and elsewhere. I am proud to see my
dream of close on forty years ago is realized ;
Europe is no longer dependent on Peru or
Bolivia for its supply of life-giving quinine."
Before closing this chapter I may mention
that there is a considerable plantation of gutta-
percha trees in the horticultural garden at
Buitenzorg. The best producer of gutta-percha,
Pelaguium {isonandrd) Gutta, grows nowhere
on the island naturally, but seeds were obtained
from two specimens of this plant which had
206 A VISIT TO JAVA.
been placed in the botanical garden, and the
plantation was established some years ago at
the suggestion of Dr. Treub. In view of the
recent development of electrical engineering and
the increased demand for indiarubber generally
which has arisen in the last few years, the fact
that an unlimited supply of this valuable plant
can be obtained in Java is one of some importance
to the commercial world.
( 207 )
CHAPTER XII.
SOCIAL LIFE.
Dutch society in the East — Batavian etiquette — English
residents — Clubs — Harmonie — Concordia — Lawn-tennis
— Planters — Horse-racing.
Boston is not the only place in the world which
has decided upon insufficient evidence that it
is the centre of the universe. We all of us
have a weakness for the special form of civiliza-
tion with which we are most familiar, and to
discover excellences of character and manners
essentially identical with those we have been
taught to associate with a cherished society in
our own country, in places where we least expect
them, is part of the discipline of travel. In the
Dutch over-sea settlements society is more
exclusive and regulated by a more rigid code
of etiquette than it is in Holland. Nor will it
2o8 A VISIT TO JAVA.
seem strange, when the special conditions of
Javan life are remembered, that the persons
composing this society should be indolent,
luxurious, and imperious. On the other hand,
an abundance of leisure, and a consciousness of
racial superiority acquired by habits of command
exercised for several generations, endow it with
some of the finer qualities associated with ancient
society based upon the institution of slavery.
Nor must we forget that the Dutch are not
mere "birds of passage" in Java, as is the case
with the English in India. On the contrary,
the majority of the Dutch residents are persons
whose families have been settled in the island
for many generations, and who look upon Java
as their home. One has only to look round in
the streets of Weltevreden to realize the fact
that Batavia is a colony, not merely a possession.
From seven to eight in the morning, troops of
boys and girls are to be seen going to school.
The little girls are dressed in light materials ;
they do not wear either hats or bonnets, and
rarely carry sunshades. The boys wear brown
SOCIAL LIFE. 209
holland trousers and jackets, and the military
cap of a continental school. Although children
are sent to Holland for social reasons, the climate
of Java does not require that painful separation
of parents and children which is one of the
disagreeable accidents of Indian life. On the
contrary, the Dutch race appears to have
developed favourably in Java, and the colonial-
born women are famous for the beauty of their
complexions and for the fineness of their
physique. Another test of the social condition
of a community is its shops. In Batavia there
are excellent shops. Not merely can the newest
books, and the cleverest etchings, and all the
numberless refinements of Bond Street be
obtained, but the manners of the tradespeople
indicate that they are accustomed to deal with
persons who require to be served promptly, and
with the best.
In addition to the native and Chinese popula-
tion, there are seven thousand Europeans resident
in Batavia. As most of these latter are persons
whose various employments allow them a good
H
2IO A VISIT TO JAVA.
deal of " leisure," there is a corresponding amount
of social activity. This is regulated by the rules
of old-fashioned continental society, with such
innovations as have been rendered necessary or
merely suggested by the special conditions of
the place and climate. As the official class is
the basis upon which Batavian society rests, it
is not surprising that ceremony should play an
important part in its system. Among European
communities in warm countries, a considerable
licence is generally allowed in the matter of
dress ; but in Batavia, etiquette requires a man
to wear a frock coat and white gloves for paying
a call. Moreover, before a call which is intended
to initiate an acquaintance can be made, notice
of the caller's intention, and of the day proposed,
must first be sent. These formal calls are
made from seven to eight in the evening, and
it is not considered polite to leave before the
hour has expired. During this period iced
water is handed round in elegant glasses,
furnished with silver trays and tortoiseshell
covers. Again, after introduction to an un-
SOCIAL LIFE. 211
married lady at a dance, a man is required to
properly legitimize the acquaintance. In order
to do this, he must be presented to the parents
of the lady, if this has not already been done,
and he is expected also to make the acquaintance
of such of her relatives as are resident in the
neighbourhood.
At the date of my visit (1890), the English
community in Batavia consisted of fifty or sixty
men and five ladies. Up to the last ten years
there has been an English chaplain at Batavia ;
but there is some difficulty in raising the
necessary stipend, and so the interesting little
church is at present deserted. It is only quite
recently that the English residents have received
any sort of recognition in Batavian society.
Now, however, they have succeeded in estab-
lishing two institutions — a paper-chase (on
horseback) and a lawn-tennis club, which are
likely to modify the rigour of its etiquette.
The Dutch are famous for their clubs. These
institutions flourish in Java, and in Batavia
they contribute materially to the social life of
212 A VISIT TO JAVA.
the place. Among many others, the Societeit
Harmonie and the Concordia are the most
considerable. At both of them frequent concerts
and dances are held. In connection with this
latter amusement, it was interesting to find
that all the dancing at Batavia was done on
marble. I was told that it was not considered
unpleasant, and that the only wooden floor
in the island was in the Governor-General's
palace at Buitenzorg. The Harmonie is a large
square building, surrounded on two sides with
porticos and verandahs, standing at the corner
of Ryswyk. The main entrance leads into
an extensive hall with white walls and a lofty
roof supported by ranges of pillars. On the
marble floor are arranged a number of small
tables for light refreshments. To the right
and left of this hall is the billiard-room and
the reading-room. The former contains some
twenty or thirty French and English tables ;
and the latter is well supplied with European
papers and magazines. The two rooms are
separated from the hall by light wooden screens,
SOCIAL LIFE. 213
which allow the air to circulate freely from one
to another, and in this way the whole building
is kept pleasantly cool. The Harmonie was
founded in 1815 during the British occupation.
In 1889, shortly before my visit, a dinner was
held commemorating the foundation of the
club, and on each menu card an account of
the event was printed, taken from the British
Government Gazette published at the time.
Compared with the Concordia, it is a civilian
club ; for, although this latter does not by any
means restrict its membership to officers in
the forces, the management is entirely in the
hands of the military, who make the neighbour-
hood of the Waterloo Plain, where the club
stands, a sort of military quarter. The Con-
cordia gives an open-air concert every Saturday
evening and every alternate Wednesday
afternoon.
I went to one of the Saturday evening
concerts, and enjoyed it very much. The air
was warm and calm, and it was very pleasant
to sit under the wide-spreading waringin trees
2 14 A VISIT TO JAVA.
and gaze up at the twinkling brightness of
the stars through the screen of leaves. There
was quite a crowd of members and their
friends promenading or sitting in easy groups
round the little iron tables. The kiosks were
brilliantly lighted, but through the branches
of the waringin trees the soft radiance of the
moon could be seen shining upon the dull blue
vault of the sky. The performance was given
by the staff band, which never leaves Batavia,
and is said to be the best in the East Indies.
I give the programme : —
i. Fur's Vaterland Marsch . . . C. Millocker.
2. Wiener Frauen Walzer . . . .J. Strauss.
3. Ouverture Jelva F. Reisiger.
4. Gruss aus der Ferne Intermezzo . . J. Verhulst.
5. Marsch und Chor a. d. Oper. Die Zau-
berflote W. A. Mozart.
6. Fantaisie La Reine de Saba . . Ch. Gounod.
II.
7. Ouverture Die Frau Meisterin . . Fr. v. Suppe.
8. Die Muhle im Schwarzwald . . R. Eilenberg.
9. Finale a. d. Oper. Ariele die Tochter
der Luft E. Bach.
SOCIAL LIFE. 2 1
On Sunday afternoon a military band plays
in the centre of the Waterloo Plain, and all
Batavia turns out in carriages or on horseback
to listen — all Batavia, that is, with the exception
of the very select few who keep to themselves
almost entirely, or, if they attend a Concordia
concert, never leave their carriages. This select
few includes the highest officials and their
families, personages such as the general and
admiral, and the members of the East India
Council. There is an interesting fact in con-
nection with the admiral that recalls the time
when the supremacy of the sea was the pride
of the Dutch nation. The Governor-General,
the general of the forces, and the admiral of
the fleet all enjoy the title of " Excellency,"
while they reside in Java ; but, whereas the two
former cease to be entitled to it when their
term of command is over, the admiral is " his
Excellency " to the end of his days.
As I mentioned before, the strictness of
Batavian etiquette is likely to be modified by
the introduction of a pastime so essentially
2l6 A VISIT TO JAVA.
English as lawn-tennis. The courts of the
Bataviasche Lawn-tennis Club are in the Zoo-
logical Gardens, south of the King's Plain. The
club holds numerous tournaments in the course
of the year, and competitions are established for
both a ladies' and gentlemen's championship.
The great majority of the men who play are
English, but the ladies are, from the small
number of English women in Batavia, almost
exclusively Dutch. The holder of the champion-
ship of Batavia, and the secretary of the club, in
1890, was an Englishman, Mr. R. L. Burt. In
addition to this club, the old Batavia cricket
club, which has an excellent ground on the
King's Plain, has been practically converted
into a men's lawn-tennis club. I was told that
as many as six double courts were to be seen in
full play on ladies' days at this club. So that it
would appear that the Dutch ladies, at all events,
have taken very kindly to lawn-tennis.
The style of living in Batavia is very similar
to that of European society in India. The
cheapness of labour and consequent number of
SOCIAL LIFE. 217
servants give a certain air of luxury to even
moderate establishments. The Malay cooks are
particularly skilful in the matter of curreys, and
in a good house a "rice-table" is a thing to be
remembered. The neatness and quickness of
the natives generally make them very suitable
for the duties of domestic and body servants.
A Batavian dinner is served at a late hour in
a lofty and spacious apartment, which is one of
a series of chambers through which the air freely
circulates from the front to the back of the house.
From this room the outside world is excluded
only by partially drawn blinds, and through the
open windows the perfumes of flowers or the
sounds of music are borne in upon the guests.
After dinner the party return to the portico in
the front, which is almost as completely furnished
as an inside room, and the rest of the evening is
spent practically in the open air.
Beside the officials who are scattered over
Java and the Dutch possessions in the East, the
planters form an important element in the social
life of the island. They are by no means ex-
2l8 A VISIT TO JAVA.
clusively Dutch, but the class includes a con-
siderable number of Englishmen. Such men
are usually drawn from the higher classes in
Holland or in England, and are fairly wealthy
and refined. Like the sheep farmers of Aus-
tralia, they are exceedingly hospitable, and their
bungalows are often convenient and even
luxurious. Often, too, these latter are set in the
midst of mountain scenery, and surrounded by
charming gardens.
The planters are the representatives of the
principle of free commerce, and the natural
opponents of the official class. Everywhere
among them complaints are heard of the
prejudice displayed against private enterprise,
and of unnecessary obstacles placed in their
way by the controleurs and assistant-residents.
As I have already mentioned, a planters' union
has lately been established for the purpose of
protecting the planting interests. It meets at
Soekaboemi, and it is hoped that, by means of
concerted action, such grievances will be brought
more effectively before the Government. After
SOCIAL LIFE. 2 19
all, the planters are the real producers of the
island, and their importance increases every
year in proportion as the area of Government
plantations is reduced. In many respects the
planters are allied with the native princes. To
a large extent the two classes lead the same life
and share the same pursuits. They are both
brought into close connection with the natives,
and they both find their chief recreation in
various forms of sport.
Horse-racing in particular has of late years
developed very considerably. The principal
meetings are held at Buitenzorg and at Bandong,
the former in June and September, the latter in
July. At Bandong the native princes turn out
in force, and the native population hold a carnival
in the town. One of the greatest patrons of the
turf is the Regent of Tjandjoer. At the time
of my visit he was the owner of the premier
horse in the island — Thistle, whose sire was
Teviot of West Australia. The planters round
Soekaboemi are also among the principal sup-
porters of horse-racing in Java.
2 20 A VISIT TO JAVA.
In Java, as elsewhere, they had a grievance.
It was said that the owners of bio- studs of
country-breds dominated the arrangements for
events, and that the programmes were made up
in favour of such native-bred horses to the
exclusion of imported stock. Such a policy was
regarded as unfavourable to the best interests
of horse-racing in Java, since, instead of en-
couraging the importation of thoroughbreds from
Australia and Europe, it tends to perpetuate the
native race. The country-bred horse is un-
doubtedly a handsome-looking animal, but he
exhibits a tendency to become weedy and razor-
chested, and fails to carry a heavy weight from
deficiency of bone. It is also found that the
progeny of imported stock decline in quality
both in size and stamina. This is the joint effect
of climate and inferior food. Horses are trained
merely on fresh grass and paddy (i.e. the ear and
part of the stalk of the rice plant). Bandaging,
I was told, was almost unknown ; at the same
time the animals were generally sound in feet
and legs.
SOCIAL LIFE. 22 1
The average height of the country-bred horse
is 14*3 to 15 hands ; and good time over a mile
is between 1 min. 52 sec. and 1 min. 55 sec, carry-
ing at the rate of 75 lbs. (Dutch) for 4 feet, and
one pound for every quarter of an inch in advance.
In other words, a fifteen-hand horse carries about
nine stone. There is no system of handicapping,
but horses carry weight for inches ; so that a
horse may defeat a rival any number of times
without effecting a change in the weights, and a
known winner carries less weight than his de-
feated rival if the latter is an inch or two above
him.
There are no recognized steeplechases, but
generally one or two events at each meeting are
reserved for gentlemen riders, and private matches
are sometimes arranged. In 1888 the commandant
at Buitenzorg offered a prize for a cross-country
race for the purpose of encouraging riding among
the officers. The event, however, was won by
an English planter.
The Buitenzorg meetings are attended by all
the best people in the island, and on the first
222 A VISIT TO JAVA.
day the Governor-General appears in state. The
racing is fixed for the morning, and lasts from nine
to twelve. It is a rather curious fact that in Java
the starter has discarded the universal red flag,
and waves a Dutch tricolour instead.
223
CHAPTER XIII.
THE HINDU JAVANESE LITERATURE.
The Hindu Javanese literature concerned with the past —
Javanese alphabet — Extent of Javanese works — Kavi
dialect — Krama and Ngoko — The Mahabharata and the
Ramayana in Kavi — Native Kavi works — The Arjuna
Vivaya — The Bharata Yuddha — Episode of Salya and
Satiavati — Ethical poems — The Paniti Sastra — Locali-
zation of Hindu mythology in Java.
The literature of a country reflects its life, but
under certain conditions. The literature of Java
is mainly, but not entirely, concerned with the
distant past, when the quiet tide of Eastern life
had received as yet no disturbing impulse from
the stream of Mohammedan and European con-
quest. This Hindu Javanese literature tells us
of a people far advanced in the essentials of
civilization, and reveals the existence of a social
system which, though undoubtedly primitive, was
224 A VISIT TO JAVA.
at the same time complete and homogeneous.
From the date of the Mohammedan conquest
onwards, that is to say, for the last four centuries,
the national life has been directed by alien forces.
During this period but little or nothing has been
added to the literature of the country, since the
fresh ideas which have been introduced have
come from Mohammedan conquerors, who were
themselves provided with a sufficient medium of
expression, and one which they sought, as a
matter of policy, to impress upon the subject
races of the island. Beyond enlightening us
upon the social system prevalent many hundred
years ago, it would seem that a knowledge of
their literature could contribute but slightly to-
wards a comprehension of the Javanese. This
opinion, however, is modified by the fact that the
Kavi literature has been popularized by trans-
lation into modern Javanese, and that the mass
of the population are still acquainted with its
main features by means of these versions accom-
panied by the representations of the theatre and
the wayang. The ideals of conduct conveyed in
THE HINDU JAVANESE LITERATURE. 225
these epics, romances, legends, and ethical treatises
will, therefore, be those with which the Javanese
are still familiar, and presumably such as still
enlist their sympathies. Besides this general
insight into native methods of thought, there
are also certain features of their life and of their
present relationship to their European conquerors
upon which interesting lights are thrown by an
acquaintance with the traditions and beliefs en-
shrined in the ancient literature.
The Javan alphabet, according to the native
idea, consists of only twenty consonants. But as
a matter of fact, each of these consonants is
credited with an inherent vowel sound of a
(often written 6) as in water; and there are
five vowel signs which are attached to the
consonants, and so vary the inherent a. There
are also twenty auxiliary consonant forms, corre-
sponding to the original twenty consonants,
which are used in all combinations of consonants.
Even this does not exhaust the list, for there
still remain a number of double letters, while
modifications of the letters of the alphabet are
15
2 26 A VISIT TO JAVA.
employed for numbers. Speaking of this alpha-
bet as a whole, Crawfurd says * that it reaches
perfection, since " it expresses every sound in
the language, and every sound invariably with
the same character, which never expresses but
one." He concludes, " In splendour or elegance
the alphabet of the Arabs and Persians is
probably superior to that of the Javanese; but
the latter, it may be safely asserted, surpasses in
beauty and neatness all other written characters."
Some idea of the extent of the Javanese litera-
ture may be gained from the fact that M. Vreede's
recently issued account of the Javanese manu-
scripts in the Leiden University Library f gives
the names of some five hundred manuscripts,
containing no less than one hundred and fifty
separate works. And — to come nearer home —
the collection of the Royal Asiatic Society con-
tains as many as forty-four Javanese manuscripts,
for which the society is mainly indebted to the
* " Indian Archipelago."
f " Catalogus van de Javaansche en Madoereesche Hand-
schriften der Leidsche Universiteits-Bibliotheek door A. C.
Vreede. Leiden : 1892."
THE HINDU JAVANESE LITERATURE. 227
generosity of Lady Raffles. No little interest
and learning have been displayed by continental
scholars in the study of these works; but, unfortu-
nately, their valuable treatises, written in German,
French, and Dutch, are not easily accessible to
English readers. In order to find an account of
the Javanese literature in English, we have to go
back more than half a century to the works of
Raffles and Crawfurd. Fortunately, the former
has enriched his "History" with unusually full
and interesting extracts from Javanese works.
But since Raffles was in Java immense advances
have been made, not only in our general know-
ledge of oriental languages, but especially in the
interpretation of literature by means of anti-
quarian remains. It is not that his account is
rendered worthless by these recent researches.
On the contrary, in this latest work, Vreede's
" Catalogue," we find frequent quotations from
Raffles' appendices. At the same time, when we
see how much he achieved with his inadequate
materials, it is difficult to suppress a feeling of
regret that the fuller information, which is avail-
2 28 A VISIT TO JAVA.
able to-day, was not at the disposal of the author
of a " History of Java." As I have embodied in
the text some extracts from Raffles' translations,
it may be well to say a word as to the value of
these versions. What Vreede says of a particular
passage is true of these renderings in general :
" They are not literal translations, but the spirit
of the work is well rendered."
In the present chapter we are concerned only
with those Hindu Javanese works which are
properly entitled to be classed as " literature."
They are written in the Kavi or literary lan-
guage. The term " Kavi " means the language
of poetry, and this dialect is composed, to a
great extent, of words of Sanscrit origin.
Although the knowledge of Kavi was gradually
lost after the Hindu supremacy was over-
thrown by the Mohammedans, modern Java-
nese contains but few Arabic words, especially
differing in this respect from Malay. Two forms
of modern Javanese are employed in everyday
speech. First, the language of ceremony, called
Krama ; and, secondly, the common speech, or
THE HINDU JAVANESE LITERATURE. 2 29
Ngoko (meaning literally the thou-ing speech).
The Krama contains a considerable number of
words derived from Sanscrit and introduced
through the Kavi, and an admixture of Malay.
It is used by the peasants and artisans in ad-
dressing the native princes. The Ngoko is
spoken by the common people among themselves,
and by the native princes in communication with
their inferiors. The existence of this double
language explains the fact (of which I have
already spoken) that the Dutch have established
Malay, and not Javanese or Sundanese, as the
medium of communication between Europeans
and natives.
The modified Hinduism which existed at
the epoch of the Mohammedan conquest (1400-
1500, a.d.) retreated very gradually in an easterly
direction before the new religion. At the end
of the eighteenth century there were still Hindus
in Java, and to-day the ancient religion lingers
in Bali, a small island off the south-eastern
coast. In Bali, therefore, it is natural that we
should find the fullest remains of such parts of
230 A VISIT TO JAVA.
the Kavi literature as are most closely identified
with that of Continental India. Only fragments
of the two great Indian epics, the Mahabharata,
or "Great War of the Sons of King Bharata," and
the Ramayana, or " Adventures of Rama," are
found in Java ; but in Bali Kavi versions of both
appear. Neither of these versions, however ;
bears the Indian title of the original work. The
Mahabharata, which, with its 220,000 lines, is the
longest epic in the world, and which Sir Monier
Williams calls "a vast cyclopaedia of Hindu
mythology," is known as " the Parvas." Of the
eighteen parvans, or divisions, of the original,
eight only are in existence in the Kavi version.
Of these the first, Adiparva, is the best preserved,
says Dr. Van der Tuuk ; " but this also," he
adds, " abounds in blunders, and especially the
proper names have been so altered from their
Indian originals as to be hardly recognizable."*
As the name "War of the Bharatas" is applicable,
strictly speaking, to only one-fifth part of the
whole poem, it is probable that the great epic
* In the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, xiii. N.S. 1881.
THE HINDU JAVANESE LITERATURE. 23 1
was not yet known under this title at the time
when it was transported from India to Java.
The Ramayana appears in a slightly changed
form in the Kavi version. The original Indian
epic is divided into seven Kandas, or volumes,
which are again subdivided into chapters. The
Kavi version, entitled " the Kandas," contains
the narrative of the first six Kandas. The
seventh, the Uttara-Kanda, or supplementary
volume, which gives an account of the de-
scendants of Rama after his death, appears in
the Kavi as an entirely separate work. It
would appear, therefore, that neither of the two
Indian epics had reached their final form when
they were carried by Hindu colonists to Java.
That part of the Mahabharata which afterwards
gave the poem its distinctive title had not yet
been written, or at least added to the central
myth ; and the Ramayana then contained only
the history of Rama. Both poems appear,
however, to have acquired a reputation for
unusual sanctity. In Java and Bali both " the
Kandas " and " the Parvas " are used as
2 32 A VISIT TO JAVA.
synonymous terms, and mean " the Sacred
Books."
The difference between the Kavi and Indian
versions of these epics seems to afford additional
evidence — if any such were needed — that neither
the Mahabharata nor the Ramayana is the
work of a single mind, but that both are a
collection or compilation of myths.
It is noticeable also that, in spite of the love
of dramatic representation manifested so uni-
versally among the Javanese, the Indian dramas
were not transplanted to Java. Dr. Friederich *
offers an explanation of this. " Most of the
Indian dramas," he says, " are of late times,
and perhaps, at the time the Brahmans came
to Java, were exclusively found at the courts of
the princes."
We come now to the consideration of what
may be called, by contradistinction to the direct
versions of the Indian epics, the native Kavi
works. The character of these poems — for all
the Kavi literature is alike written in metre — is
* In the Journal of R. A. S. vii. N.S.
THE HINDU JAVANESE LITERATURE. 233
in the main mythological and romantic ; but there
are also to be found among them certain ethical
and religious works. Although the subjects, the
heroes, and even the metre in many cases, are
still Indian, these subjects and heroes have been
so completely identified with the local life that
the poems are essentially Javanese.
Of the native Kavi works the " Arjuna Vivaya,"
which gives an account of the ascent of Arjuna
to Indra, and of his love for the nymph Urvasi,
deserves to stand first from the purity of the
dialect in which it is composed. The Indian
hero Arjuna, the son of Pandu, who is called
by Sir Monier Williams, " the real hero of the
Mahabharata," was adopted by the Javanese, and
his name was given to one of their mountains.
The metre of the poem is Indian in form, and
not Javanese, and the date of its composition is
fixed by Professor Kern in his " Kawistudien" as
the first half of the eleventh century of our era.
The fact that it contains but slight traces ' of
Buddhistic thought is important as giving some
hint of the date at which Buddhism was intro-
234 A VISIT TO JAVA.
duced in the island. In this respect it differs
from the " Arjuna Vijaya," a later poem cele-
brating the triumph of the same hero over
Ravan, the demon king of Ceylon.
The " Bharata Yuddha," or war of the Bharatas,
is so closely connected with the sacred Parvas, that
it is generally placed by the Javanese at the head
of the native Kavi works. It is esteemed the
greatest work in the Javanese literature, but it
yields in point of antiquity to the "Arjuna Vivaya."
Its language also is less pure, and contains a
certain admixture of ordinary high Javanese or
Krama. A definite date (i 195, a.d.) is assigned
to it, and the name of its author is said to be
Hempu, or M'pu, S'dah. The subject of the
poem is identical with that of four of the
parvans of the Mahabharata, but the scene is
changed from India to Java. It contains an
account of the struggle between the Pandavas,
or five sons of Pandu, and the Kauravas, or
hundred sons of Dhritavashtra, in which the
latter are ultimately defeated in their attempt
to obtain the kingdom of Neastina. The scene
THE HINDU JAVANESE LITERATURE. 235
is laid in the plains around the city Ngastina,
or in the city itself. The poem opens with the
following lines : — *
" In war 'tis the prayer of the brave to annihilate the foe ;
To see the braids of fallen chiefs scattered like flowers before
the wind ;
To rend their garments, and burn alike their altars and their
palaces ;
Boldly to strike off their heads while seated in their chariots,
and thus to obtain renown."
The episode of King Salya, one of the Kaurava
princes, and Satiavati, his queen, is singularly
romantic, and reveals a high ideal of wifely
devotion. The poem relates how Salya steals
away from his wife, and sacrifices himself on
the field of battle. Then Satiavati wanders
over this same field of battle by night in quest
of his corpse. A flash of lightning is sent to
direct her steps, and when she has found the
body of her husband, she addresses the corpse
in a speech in which she declares her intention
of following his spirit.
* I am indebted for this and the subsequent versions in the
text to Raffles' " History of Java."
236 A VISIT TO JAVA.
" But earth has lost its fleeting charms for me
And, happy spirit, I will follow thee."
She continues —
" Though vvidadaris * should obey thy call
Reserve for me a place above them all,"
and finally stabs herself.
To her faithful maid Sagandika she says—
" Tell them to think of Satiavati's fate,
And oft the story of her love relate."
But Sagandika also kills herself.
" Then did their happy spirits wing their way
To the fair regions of eternal day."
I conclude the episode by a quotation from
the prose rendering given by Raffles, which
keeps more exactly to the original, and gives a
characteristically Eastern picture of heaven.
" The astonished spirit of Prince Salya quickly
said —
" ' Uneasy and impatient have I waited for thee
among the clouds, with many widadaris, panditas,
and diwas.'
" Having taken the princess in his arms, he
* Angels.
THE HINDU JAVANESE LITERATURE. 237
returns with her by the road which leads to
heaven.
" There arrived, they find it extremely beautiful.
" Of silk were the houses, and brilliant were the
precious stones.
" Amusing herself, the princess was delighted
with the abundance of food which was there.
" Great being the bounty of the Almighty to
mankind. And there was no difference sus-
ceptible in the ages of those that were there."
I have already mentioned that among the
Kavi poems are contained various ethical works.
Of these the " Paniti Sastra," or Manual of
Wisdom, will serve as an example. Raffles, in
his account of this work, says that it contains
one hundred and twenty-three stanzas, and that
it is said to be contemporary with the Bharata
Yuddha. Vreede, in his " Catalogue," says in
a note,* " Winter mentions the ' Niti Sastra
Kawi,' and as its author Prabu Vidayaka, in the
time of Aji Saka." As Saka was the commence-
ment of all things in Java, to refer the work to
* Page 262.
238 A VISIT TO JAVA.
the time of Aji Saka, is practically to say that
it is of unknown antiquity. It belongs to the
second class of Tuturs, or sacred writings, i.e.
those which were not kept secret by the priests,
but which might be read by other castes beside
the Brahmans ; and there are several versions
and translations of it in modern Javanese. The
following lines are taken from the Kavi text
of this work : —
"As the suraya flower floats in the water,
so does the heart exist in a pure body ; but
let it not be forgotten that the root of the
flower holds to the ground, and that the heart
of man depends upon his conduct in life.
" As the moon and the stars shed their ligfht
by night, and the sun giveth light by day, so
should the sayings of a wise man enlighten all
around him.
" Deprive not another of the credit which is due
to him, nor lower him in the opinion of the
world ; for the sun, when he approaches near
the moon, in depriving her of her light, adds
nothing to his own lustre."
THE HINDU JAVANESE LITERATURE. 239
There is a modern Javanese version of the
" Niti Sastra," of which the following passages
are specimens : —
" A man who is ignorant of the sacred
writings, is as one who has lost his speech ;
for when these become the conversation of other
men, he will be under the necessity of remaining
silent.
" No man can be called good or bad until his
actions prove him so.
" It is well known that a man cannot take the
goods of this world with him to the grave, and
that man, after this life, is punished with heaven
or hell, according to the merits of his actions in
this life : a man's duty, therefore, requires him
to remember that he must die ; and if he has
been merciful and liberal in this life to the poor,
he will be rewarded hereafter."
One and the same principle governs the
composition of the mythological and romantic
literature of the Hindu epoch, and that of those
somewhat similar works in modern Javanese
composed after the Mohammedan conquest.
240 A VISIT TO JAVA.
The authors of both alike set one main object
before them — to exalt the reigning princes by
identifying them with the heroes or princes of
an anterior epoch ; only in the case of the
Kavi poems, this anterior epoch is fixed in the
cloud-land of Hindu mythology, while after the
Mohammedan conquest it becomes merely the
preceding era of the Hindu supremacy in Java,
which is used as a ladder by which the Hindu
cloud-land may be reached. But the nature of
the babads, or chronicles, the medium by which
this object was subsequently effected, and the
interesting question of their historical value, are
subjects which I must reserve for the succeeding
chapter.
( 241 )
CHAPTER XIV
WORKS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD.
Uncertainty about the history of the Hindu kingdoms given
by the chronicles — Character of the babad, or chronicle —
Its historical value — Brumund's treatment of the babads —
Account of the babad " Mangku Nagara " — Prose work?.
— The Niti Praja — The Surya Ngalam — Romances —
The Johar Manikam— Dramatic works — The Panjis —
Wayang plays — Arabic works and influence — The theatre
— The wayang.
The works of the Mohammedan Javanese period
include, in addition to translations and versions
of all kinds both from the Kavi literature and
the Arabic, romances, dramatic works, and plays,
intended both for the theatre and the wayang,
ethical and legal compilations, and, lastly, the
babads, or chronicles. It will be convenient to
consider these latter first ; but before doing so
it is necessary to revert for a moment to the
historical account which I gave in my opening
16
242 A VISIT TO JAVA.
chapter. It will be remembered that in that
account the two Hindu kingdoms of Pajajaran
and Majapahit, respectively founded in the west
and east of the island, were mentioned as being
especially celebrated in the native chronicles.
These chronicles, it is true, give us the names
and dates of various earlier kingdoms, and a
variety of information about their respective
dynasties ; but for all practical purposes the
history of the Hindu period, as at present
revealed, may be summed up in a sentence of
Crawfurd. From the latter part of the twelfth
century to the overthrow of Majapahit (1478),
" a number of independent states existed in
Java, and the religion of the people was a
modified Hinduism." Antiquarian research fur-
ther tells us that this series of Hindu states
commenced in the centre of the island, and
that it was closed by the western kingdom of
Pajajaran, which existed as early as the first
half of the eleventh century, and the eastern
kino-dom of Majapahit, which was itself succeeded
by the first Mohammedan empire of Demak.
WORKS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD. 243
Remains of the capital cities of both these
Hindu kingdoms are in existence. Those of
Pajajaran, which are to be found forty miles
from Batavia, are exceedingly meagre, and appear
to be the work of a primitive epoch. Those of
Majapahit, close by Soerabaia, are numerous and
magnificent.
But the chronicles which make these kingdoms
the subject of their narratives were not composed
until the Mohammedan period was well advanced ;
or, at least, if they had a previous existence, they
were then remodelled under the direction of the
susunans, or emperors. They have, therefore,
to be regarded with considerable suspicion.
In the case of the chronicles which relate
contemporary events, we are on surer ground.
But such is the nature of the Javanese, and
such the literary character of the babad, that
even here we are by no means certain to meet
with actual facts.
The babad is a poem composed in a common
Javanese measure, which purports to give an
account of historical persons and events. Some-
244 A VIS1T T0 JAVA.
times it relates the fortunes of empires ; some-
times it degenerates into a mere genealogical
tree. Every Javan "prince" has his "babad,"
in which the names of his ancestors and their
deeds are recounted. Remembering the fertility
of the Eastern imagination, and the despotic cha-
racter of Eastern rulers, it is easy to understand
that such babads were more often than not
reduced in point of veracity to the standard of
an average fairy tale. M. Brumund, whose
remarks on this subject are embodied 'in
Leemans' work on the Boro-Boedoer temple,
deals very severely with the babads. He cannot
away with them, and goes near to denying their
claims for credence altogether. But surely a
distinction should be made between the family
babad, which is altered to suit the whims of a
single prince, and those babads which relate
events affecting the interests of several competing
princes, or in which no single prince is especially
interested. The Homeric poems, we are told,
were kept reasonably free from interpolations by
the jealousy of the various Hellenic communities.
WORKS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD. 245
May not an influence of the same kind have
operated in Java, and have preserved some of
these chronicles from corruption ?
That the babad is capable of being approached
from two different points of view is apparent from
the following extracts, in which I have compared
M. Brumund's treatment of a babad of only fifty
years ago with Mr. Nieman's account of an
earlier babad in the possession of the Royal
Asiatic Society.
M. Brumund says —
" Let us take, for example, Dhipa Negoro,
the chief of the revolt in Java, which lasted until
1830; well, the babad represents him to us
as enveloped in the clouds of the supernatural.
There he is, surrounded by hundreds of enemies ;
he is about to be captured, but he calls to his
aid the miraculous power which is at his disposal,
and this power causes him to pass freely, safe
and sound, through the threatening host, who
suffer him to pass in their amazement, and
who dare not even lift a finger against him.
Another day he gives orders to have some
246 A VISIT TO JAVA,.
cocoa-nut trees felled, and to have them covered
with a white flag ; he sets himself to pray, the
flag" is removed, and behold, the cocoa-nut trees
are changed into pieces of artillery of the finest
casting. He needs counsel ; forthwith he is
carried through the air to the southern shore
and to the great spirit of the south, only to
return forthwith after the conference. He
wishes to pray at Mecca ; scarcely has he
formed the wish before his person is found
upon the borders of the city, and, as a proof
that he has really been there, he carries off a
cake from the sacred city, all smoking hot."
Mangku Nagara, who is the subject of the
babad discussed by Mr. Nieman, was a Javan
prince who played a leading part, first in the
Chinese war of 1745, and afterwards in the
revolt of the Javan princes against the Dutch
and the reigning susunan, known as " the Java
war," which lasted from the close of the Chinese
war to the year 1758. In the latter he fought
for some time in alliance with Mangku Bumi,
a younger brother of the susunan. After a
r WORKS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD. 247
time, however, this personage made terms with
the Dutch on his own account, and Mangku
Nagara, thus deserted, was compelled to submit
to the susunan, and accept a modified territory
for his administration. It was in this war that
the Dutch obtained the deed of abdication
mentioned in Chapter L from the Susunan Paku-
buona II., in the year 1849. The conduct of
the war cost the company more than four million
florins, but at its termination they had secured
the virtual control of the island.
Mr. Nieman first gives some particulars about
the manuscript.* It is entitled, he says, the
" Babad Mangku Nagara." Its date is 1802 ;
it is written in metre ; its language is modern
Javanese, but it contains some Kavi words,
and one whole passage is written in the literary
dialect. He then continues —
" Mangku Nagara is always depicted, not only
as a brave and valiant, but also as a very
religious man. His soldiers, and those of
Mangku Bumi, who was at one time his ally,
* Journal of the R. A. S. xx. 1863.
248 A VISIT TO JAVA.
were steady adherents of the rites of Islam, so
far as they were enabled to observe them, such
as ablutions, prayer, the fast of Ramadan, and
other practices of the Moslem. His confidence
in the power of Allah, and his submission to
his will when in distress, are praised, and his
character is contrasted with that of the cruel
Mangku Bumi, who put two of his wives to
death for the most trifling offences, such as
necdectinor- to offer him his coffee. Mangku
Nagara, on the contrary, is described as greatly
attached to his wives and children, carefully
providing for their safety, and visiting them at
their places of concealment, whenever he could
snatch a temporary interval from his duties as
a warrior. Attachment to his family, and at-
tention to religious observances, seem to have
been thought quite compatible with a strong
attachment to the sex generally ; we find him
at the village of Zamenang, engaged for two
months in copying the Koran and other religious
works, and yet frequently amusing himself with
the Bedaya, or dancing girls, from whom he
WORKS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD. 249
was unable to separate himself in his retirement.
Mangku Bumi had the impudence to deprive
him of two of these women, whom he had
previously presented to him as a mark of kind-
ness ; and, although he subsequently restored
one of them to Mangku Nagara, the prince
could not pardon the offence. The one that
Mangku Bumi did not restore appears to have
been especially a favourite of Mangku Nagara,
whose grief and resentment were aggravated by
some other offences ; and the Dutch Governor of
Samarang took advantage of this disposition to
uree him to forsake the cause of Mangku Bumi.
His efforts were at first successful, and Mangku
Nagara made peace with the Dutch, and declared
war against Mano-ku Bumi : but this state of
things did not continue long. War soon re-
commenced between the Dutch and Mangku
Nagara, from some cause which does not fully
appear. It is believed that the latter was unable
to prevent his adherents from quarrelling with
and attacking the Dutch ; but the fact is, the
Mangku Bumi, finding himself unable to resist
250 A VISIT TO JAVA.
the united forces of Mangku Nagara and of
the Dutch, found means to effect a reconciliation
with the latter, and by their mediation received
from the Susunan Zaku Buwana nearly a half
of the Empire of Mataram, assumed the title
of Sultan, and fixed his residence at Jotjokarta,
the susunan residing at Solo, or Surakarta. This
division of the empire took place in a.d. 1755.
From this epoch the power of the unfortunate
Mangku Nagara declined. Mano-ku Bumi made
common cause with the Dutch and the susunan
against him, and the desertion of several of
his adherents, who now joined his relentless
enemies, left him no rest. He was hunted from
place to place like a wild beast, until he resolved,
in his despair, to fall upon his numerous foes,
in the persuasion that he should perish in the
strife. Forty of his bravest friends joined in
this resolution ; their example encouraged the
few troops who remained with him; they attacked
their enemies with desperate courage, and un-
expectedly gained a great victory. The Dutch
were wholly defeated ; nearly a hundred of them
WORKS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD. 25 1
were left dead on the field of battle ; and, better
than all, his brave and indefatigable enemy,
Van der Zoll, the Dutch commander, perished
in the fight. Mangku Nagara's success, however,
was not permanent; he was defeated in the
next battle, and, although the war continued
with varying success, sometimes to the advantage
of one side, and sometimes of the other, his
cause gradually declined. It was a guerilla
war; Mangku Nagara was now flying to the
mountains of Kerdenz, and now issuing forth
to fall upon and harass his enemies ; but upon
the whole his losses were predominant, and the
manuscript ends with an account of the peace
he was compelled to submit to, and the conditions
on which it was concluded. All this may be read
in Raffles' " History."
The existence of such babads as this of Mangku
Nagara would seem to point to. the conclusion
that a consecutive and reliable account of the
Hindu period could be produced by careful sifting
and comparison of the various babads dealing
with this epoch. For this purpose they require to
252 A VISIT TO JAVA.
be examined by the methods of scientific history,
and the results thus obtained must be checked
by the faithful records of the antiquarian remains.
Among- the prose works in modern Javanese,
two, the " Niti Praja " and the " Surya Ngalam,"
are especially interesting as throwing light upon
Javanese customs and thought. The former is
one of a number of similar works, containing
rules of conduct and instructions on points of
Eastern etiquette especially intended for the
information of the princes and nobility.
It is said to have been " compiled " by the
Sultan Agung of Mataram. According to Vreede,
the language of the " Niti Praja" is not Kavi, but
it is written in the " stiff and artificial language
common to the ethical treatises." The following
passages are taken from translations which
appear in Raffles' account of the work : —
" A good prince must protect his subjects
against all unjust persecutions and oppressions,
and should be the light of his subjects, even as
the sun is the li^ht of the world. His oroodness
must flow clear and full like the mountain stream,
WORKS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD. 253
which, in its course towards the sea, enriches and
fertilizes the land as it descends.
" When a prince gives audience to the public,
his conduct must be dignified. He must sit
upright, and not in a bending posture, and say
little, neither looking on one side or the othe«r,
because, in this case, the people would not have
a si^ht of him."
The following paragraph, which deals with the
duty of a prime minister, is conceived in a spirit
more suitable for the court of a constitutional
monarch than for that of an Eastern potentate.
" It is a disgrace to a prime minister for any
hostile attack to be made in the country entrusted
to his charge without his knowledge, or that he
should be careless or inattentive to the same,
rather thinking how to obtain the favour of his
prince than to secure the safety of the country."
An ambassador is directed to use all means
within his power for obtaining information con-
cerning the country to which he is sent. Then
follow some directions which are specially cha-
racteristic of Eastern life.
254 A VISIT TO JAVA.
" The letter must be carried on the shoulder,
and in his gait and speech he must conduct him-
self with propriety. In delivering the letter he
must present himself with dignity, approach first,
and then retire from the person to whom the
letter is directed, speak with him at a distance,
and not too familiarly."
The " Surya Ngalam " is the most important
of a group of legal treatises. Its author, or
rather compiler, from whom it takes its title,
was a Sultan of Demak, the first of the Moham-
medan states founded in Java. It is a com-
pendium of Mohammedan law.
The modern version of the " Surya Ngalam "
commences, " There was a certain raja of the
West, named Sang Probu Suria Alem, who, being
duly qualified, did, in the establishment of
divine justice, frame a code of judicial regula-
tions, consisting of one thousand five hundred and
seven articles, which being afterwards digested
and reduced to the number of one hundred and
forty-four, were by him made known and
explained to all the people of the countries
I! 'OR AS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD. 255
under his authority, thereby diffusing knowledge
and righteousness where ignorance and wicked-
ness before prevailed."
I have already mentioned the jaksa,* as
receiving information of offences, and sitting
in the courts as assessor to the European
judge-president. There are some very drastic
punishments provided for this official in the
section of the " Surya Ngalam " which treats of
his duties-.
" In the first place, he must possess a sufficient
knowledge of the law, to know how to act in
regard to cases which may come before him. . . .
If the jaksa be found ignorant of these matters,
he shall have his tongue cut out. ... In the
third place, any incorrect statement in writing
shall be punished by the loss of both hands."
Among the modern Javanese works there
appear a number of romances, of which the
"Johar Manikam," which is taken from the
Arabic, is an example. She was a sort of Javan
Una, and the poem tells of her various deliver-
* In Chapter III.
256 A VISIT TO JAVA.
ances from dangers, moral and physical. It com-
mences with a sentence which is subtle enoueh
for the nineteenth-century era. I quote this and
the two following lines : —
" That is true love which makes the heart uneasy.
There was a woman who shone like a gem in the world, for
she was distinguished by her conduct, and her name
was Jowar Manikam.
Pure was her conduct like that of a saint, and she never
forgot her devotions to the deity : all evil desires were
strangers to her heart."
The dramatic works fall naturally into two
divisions. The circle of poems, partly historical,
which recount the adventures of Panji, the
" knight " or national hero of Java, and which
are called, after his name, "the Panjis;" and
the wayang plays. The Panjis are important
as alone supplying the Javan theatre with
subjects for its representations. Among the
titles of the various works included in the
group are such as these : " The marriage of
Panji and Angreni," " The History of the Lady
Kurana, Princess of Bali," and " Panji and his
Amours." There appears to be great uncertainty
as to the origin and date of these poems. Vreede,
WORKS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD. 2$ J
after giving Raffles' account of the " Angrene '
— the title under which the Panjis appear to
have been then (i 8 1 9) known — says that he
has quoted the account of Raffles verbatim
"because, notwithstanding the palpable inac-
curacies of his conclusions, seeing our faulty
information about the origin, the date, the
authors, and the compilation of the Panji
narratives, his indications may have, for all we
know, great value."
As to the works directly due to the introduction
of the Arabic lansruaofe and literature simultane-
ously with the establishment of the Mohammedan
power in the island, it is certainly remarkable,
considering the completeness of the Mohammedan
conquest and its long duration, that the Javanese
laneuaee should show such few sioms of Arabic
influences as it does at the present time. The
Koran was rendered into Javan verse a century
and a half ago. Beside the various adaptations
from the Arabic, there are a large number of
Arabic treatises current in Java. Long ago
Arabic schools were established in the island, and
258 A VISIT TO JAVA.
of these schools that in the district of Pranaraga
at one time boasted of having as many as fifteen
hundred scholars.
I shall conclude this account of the Javanese
literature with a short description of the native
theatre, and of the wayang.
As I have already mentioned, the subjects of
the topeng, or Javan drama, are invariably taken
from the group of Panji poems. The actors are
dressed in the costumes of ancient times, and are
gaudily decked with cheap jewellery, velvet,
leather, and gold-embroidered cloths. A special
characteristic of the native theatre is the fact that
the actors wear masks and do not themselves
speak, but the words of the play are recited by the
dalang, or manager. The only occasion on which
they depart from this practice is when the perform-
ance is given before one of the native princes, and
in this case they also appear without their masks.
In the performance of their somewhat limited
functions they display considerable skill and
histrionic capacity, but the piece resembles a
ballet rather than a drama.* The recitations of
* See p. 56.
WORK'S OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD. 259
the dalang are accompanied by the music of the
gamelan, which, as in the case of the wayang,
forms the orchestra. A topeng company numbers
eleven persons — the dalang, six actors, and four
gamelan musicians.
The subjects of the wayang plays are taken
from the Kavi poems, from the Panjis, and
especially from the chronicles. Some of these
plays, or lampahans, are in metre, others are in
prose. Both alike consist of summaries of the
original poems on which they are based, and are
intended for the use of the dalang. It is notice-
able, however, that the wayang commands a far
wider range of subjects than the theatre.
In the true wayang the figures themselves
are not seen, but only their shadows. The
dalang places a transparent curtain, stretched
over a frame ten feet long by five high, between
himself and the audience. He then fixes his
figures in the bamboo bar immediately in front
of him, and throws their shadows on to the
curtain by placing a lamp behind them. At
the same time he moves the arms with wires
in order to produce the effect of action. The
260 A VISIT TO JAVA.
wayang dolls are singularly grotesque. There
is an interesting tradition which ascribes this
distortion to a deliberate purpose. According
to this account, after the Mohammedan conquest
and the subsequent conversion of the Javanese
to Islamism, it became necessary to reconcile the
continued enjoyment of the national pastime with
the precept of the new religion which forbade the
dramatic representation of the human form. A
means of escaping from the dilemma was
discovered by the susunan of that day, who
ordered the wayang figures to be distorted to
their present grotesque shapes. His line of
argument was ingenious. The world, he said,
would now no longer recognize the figures of the
wayang as representations of humanity. The
Javanese, however, would recognize the persons
whom the figures were intended to reproduce
from their knowledge of the national traditions.
Even if they should eventually come to forget
the nature of the originals good would arise, for
they would then believe that it was only since
their conversion to the faith of the prophet that
their ancestors had assumed a human shape.
WORKS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN PERIOD. 26 1
There are two forms of the shadow wayang,
the purva and the gedog. The subjects of the
first are taken from the various mythological
works of the Hindu period, and from the Bharata
Yuddha. In presenting this wayang, the dalang
first recites a few verses in Kavi, and then
continues the narrative in a modern Javanese
version. This wayang is especially useful as
serving to keep alive some knowledge of the
literary dialect among the common people. The
wayang gedog differs from the former in so far
as its subjects belong to a later period, and no
Kavi verses are recited. The gamelan also
which accompanies the dalang is somewhat
different. Pangi is the favourite hero of the
wayang gedog, though he is not represented so
exclusively as in the theatre. In both of these
wayangs the dalang often improvises the dialogue
with which the narrative is interspersed.
I have described the wayang klitik in my account
of my visit to Tji Wangi. The performance is
oqven without the intervention of a curtain, and
the figures in the wayang are slightly smaller
and not nearly so skilfully constructed as in the
262
A VISIT TO JAVA.
two former. The wayang klitik takes its subjects
from the period of the Mohammedan invasion.
The dalangs are held in great respect by the
common people, and many of them possess their
own sets of wayang puppets. It is customary for
the native princes to keep a dalang at their
palaces ; in this case, of course, the figures and
gamelan do not belong to the dalang, but to
the prince.
A WAYANG FIGURE.
( 263 )
CHAPTER XV.
SINGAPORE.
Bataviaand Singapore — Raffles' arrival in the East — Determines
to oppose the Dutch supremacy in the Archipelago —
Occupation of Java — Is knighted — Returns from England
— Foundation of Singapore — Uncertainty whether the
settlement would be maintained — His death — Description
of Singapore — Epilogue.
A fortnight after my visit to Tji Wangi I left
Java. As the train took us from Batavia to the
port, I caught a glimpse of the sea over the
palm-trees, and I felt something of the exultation
which prompted the remnant of the ten thousand
Greeks to exclaim, " The sea ! the sea ! " I had
tired of the steamy atmosphere of Batavia, and
that line of blue seemed full of revivifying power.
Three days later we reached Singapore. Here
everything was bright and new and English —
miles of wharfs crowded with shipping, broad
264 A VISIT TO JAVA.
streets, the cathedral spire en evidence, tall ware-
houses, and handsome Government buildings.
Watering-carts replaced the bamboo buckets in
the streets, and English iron and stone work the
quaint lamps and antiquated masonry. There
the Dutch lived by themselves ; the wide streets,
education, Christianity, were for them exclusively.
Here it was otherwise. Even the native streets
were well drained and lighted ; for the English-
man shares his civilization with the native races.
The glory of the place is its splendidly turfed
and tree-clad esplanade ; and in the centre of the
broad carriage-road there stands the statue of
Sir Stamford Raffles, for five years Lieutenant-
Governor of Java and the founder of Singapore.
The British occupation of Singapore arose so
directly out of the cession of Java, that a descrip-
tion of the circumstances which led to this event
will suitably complete my account of that
country.
After some years' service as a clerk in the East
India house in London, Raffles was despatched
in 1805, when only twenty-three years of age,
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SINGAPORE. 265
to the East, as assistant-secretary to the Govern-
ment of Penanof, where a settlement was then
being formed by the company. In this capacity
he so distinguished himself as to attract the
notice of Lord Minto, then Governor-General of
India. In particular Raffles made himself ac-
quainted, as no other European had done before,
with the circumstances and character of the
Malay races. Subsequently, in view of the
annexation of Holland by Napoleon, it became
desirable for the Indian Government to take
some measures to prevent the establishment of
the French in the Dutch possessions in the East.
When, as a means to this end, it was determined
to occupy Java, it was to Raffles that Lord
Minto applied for the necessary information upon
which the operations of the expedition could be
based. The capture of Java was considered of
such importance that the Governor-General
himself accompanied the expedition. Raffles'
information was found to be so accurate, and
his suggestions so valuable, that after the capi-
tulation of General Jansens on September 18,
266 A VISIT TO JAVA.
1 8 1 1, Lord Minto entrusted the island to his
charge. Up to the present, Raffles had been
actinof first as a^ent and afterwards as chief
secretary to the Governor-General ; he was now
appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Java and its
dependencies.
I have already written of the principles upon
which Raffles based his measures during the
five years of his administration, and of the
criticism which was directed against them. The
whole of Raffles' public acts as a servant of
the company were reviewed by the Court of
Directors in 1826. The verdict of this very
competent authority, with reference to the
financial expedients and the general reforms
which he adopted in his administration of the
island, was entirely favourable, if we except
what refers to the sale of lands, which it charac-
terized as a " questionable proceeding." It is
worthy of note, however, that this " questionable
proceeding " had been pronounced by the
Governor-General to be " an able expedient in
a moment of great emergency." Raffles was
SINGAPORE. 267
bitterly disappointed when the news reached
him that, under the settlement effected by the
Treaty of London, the British Government had
consented to restore Java to the Dutch. For
a moment the announcement of Napoleon's
escape from Elba seemed to bring a chance of
a reprieve. But this transient gleam of hope
was soon dispelled, and in March, 18 16, Raffles
relinquished the government to the imperial
officer appointed to carry out the transference
of the island. Lord Minto had secured for him
the residency of Bencoolen, a settlement on the
western coast of Sumatra ; but his state of health
was so unsatisfactory that it became necessary
for him to proceed to England without delay.
After a stay of only fifteen months' duration,
during which he received the honour of knight-
hood from the king, Raffles again set sail for
India in October, 18 17. He was appointed to
the government of Bencoolen, with the title of
Lieutenant-Governor of Fort Marlborough, and it
is in this capacity that he signed his Singapore
proclamations. It appears, however, that he was
2 68 A VISIT TO JAVA.
in some way commissioned by the Home Govern-
ment to exercise a general supervision over
British interests in the further East. In a letter
written in 1820 he says that he "had separate
instructions from the Court to watch the motions
of foreign nations, and particularly the Dutch, in
the Archipelago generally, and to write to the
Court and the Secret Committee."* On his
arrival at Bencoolen in March, 18 19, he set
himself once more to achieve that object for
which he had incessantly worked ever since his
first appearance in the East — the establishment of
British influence in Malaya and the Eastern
Archipelago. With this object in view Raffles
resolved to proceed to Calcutta, in order that he
might personally confer with Lord Hastings,
who had succeeded Lord Minto as Governor-
General, and secure the co-operation of the
Bengal Government in his plans. He arrived
at Calcutta early in July of the same year. Lord
Hastings expressed a high appreciation of the
value of Raffles' services in Java, and gave
* " Memoir of Sir Stamford Raffles, by his widow." 1830.
SINGAPORE. 269
him general assurances of his further support.
Although the Bengal Government were not pre-
pared to endorse the extension of the British
authority in Sumatra, they and the British
merchants at Calcutta were at least rendered
sensible by Raffles' arguments of the importance
of endeavouring to check the progress of the
Dutch in the Malay Peninsula. Of the two
channels which alone gave access to the Archi-
pelago, one was already in the hands of the
Dutch, and the other soon would be. In short,
unless some immediate and energetic measures
were taken, the trade of the whole Eastern
Archipelago would be closed against the English
merchants. In his own words, Raffles asked for
neither territory nor people ; all he wanted was
" permission to anchor a line-of-battle ship and
hoist the English flag."
In short, the result of Raffles' visit to Calcutta
was that the Bengal Government resolved, if
possible, to keep the command of the Straits of
Malacca, and he was despatched as their agent to
effect this purpose.
270 A VISIT TO JAVA.
It appears that the Bengal Government hoped
to sufficiently command the straits by an establish-
ment at Achin, in the extreme north of Sumatra,
and by taking possession of Rhio, a small island
south of Singapore. Raffles, however, foresaw —
what indeed happened — that the Dutch would
anticipate him in the occupation of Rhio, while
Achin seemed scarcely suitable for the purpose.
When he left Calcutta he had another plan in
view. On December 12, 18 18, he writes from
on board the Nearchus, at the mouth of the
Ganges, to his frequent correspondent Marsden,
the Sumatran traveller —
" We are now on our way to the eastward, in the
hope of doing something, but I much fear the
Dutch have hardly left us an inch of ground to
stand upon. My attention is principally turned
to Johore, and you must not be surprised if my
next letter to you is dated from the site of the
ancient city of Singapura."
In carrying out the difficult task which had
been entrusted to him, Raffles encountered not
only the opposition of the Dutch, which he
SINGAPORE. 271
naturally expected, but that of the Government
of Penan"". The authorities at PenanQf had a
double reason for their opposition. In the first
place, they regarded the establishment of a
station further east as detrimental to the interests
of their own settlement ; and, in the next, they
had themselves unsuccessfully endeavoured to
acquire a similar position, and now maintained
that the time had gone by for such measures.
Fortunately, however, Raffles had already secured
the services of Colonel Farquhar and a military
force. This officer was in command of the troops
at Bencoolen, which, at the time Raffles left
Calcutta, were on the point of being relieved.
Raffles had written from Calcutta, instructing
him to proceed to Europe by the Straits of Sunda,
where he would receive further instructions.
Singapore, the spot which Raffles' knowledge
of the Malay states enabled him to secure for
his settlement, is a small island, twenty-seven
miles long by fourteen broad, immediately south
of the Malay Peninsula, from which it is separated
by a channel of less than a mile in width. No
272 A VISIT TO JAVA.
situation could be imagined better calculated to
secure the objects which the new settlement
was intended to effect. Not only does the island
completely command the Straits of Malacca, the
gate of the ocean highway to China and the
Eastern Archipelago, but, lying at a convenient
distance from the Chinese, the Indian, and the
Javanese ports, it was admirably adapted to
serve as an entrepot and centre of English
trade.
The island at this time formed part of the
territory of the Sultan of Johore, and it contained
the remains of the original maritime capital of
the Malays. It was within the circuit of these
Malay fortifications, raised more than six
centuries ago, that, on the 29th of February,
1 8 19, Raffles planted the British flag at
Singapore.
From the very first Raffles fully realized the
value of the acquisition. On the 19th of February,
1819, he writes that he has found "at Singapore
advantages far superior to what Rhio afforded."
And in the same letter he says, "In short,
S/XGAPORE. 273
Singapore is everything we could desire, and I
may consider myself most fortunate in the
selection ; it will soon rise into importance, and
with this single station alone, I would undertake
to counteract all the plans of Mynheer."
Raffles was not able to remain for more than
a few days at Singapore. He hurried on to
Achin, and, after completing the object of his
mission there, returned to his residency at
Bencoolen. But the new settlement rapidly
progressed under Colonel Farquhar's able ad-
ministration. A year afterwards, this officer
writes to Raffles that "nothing can possibly
exceed the rising trade and general prosperity
of this infant colony." He adds, " Merchants
of all descriptions are collecting here so fast
that nothing is heard in the shape of complaint
but the want of more ground to build on."
In spite of this immediate assurance of
prosperity, it remained for a long time uncertain
whether the British Government would maintain
the settlement.
The right of possession was from the first
18
274 A VISIT TO JAVA.
disputed by the Dutch. Raffles himself suc-
cinctly states in a letter to Marsden the basis
upon which this rested. It appears, from his
letter, that the Dutch had secured the cession
of Rhio from the Sultan of Lingen, whom they
recognized as the Sultan of Johore. On his
arrival at Singapore, Raffles was visited by one
of the two chief hereditary officials of Johore,
who represented to him that an elder brother of
the Sultan of Lingen was the legal successor
to that throne, adding, that as the Dutch had
negotiated with an incompetent authority, it
was still open to the English to effect a
settlement on the territory of Johore. This
elder brother was subsequently recognized by
the nobles at the court of Johore, and it was
with this personage, in his capacity of Sultan
of Johore, that Raffles concluded his treaty, and
obtained permission to establish his settlement.
The Dutch, on the other hand, maintained that
the Sultan of Lingen had been legally invested
with the sovereignty of Johore at the time of
the occupation ; and, therefore, that the per-
SINGAPORE. 275
mission accorded to Raffles was worthless. In
a letter bearing date July 19, 1820, a corre-
spondent writes to him from London —
" You are propably aware of the obstacles
which have been opposed to the adoption of
your measures, and even threatened your position
in the service. Your zeal considerably out-
stepped your prudence, and the first operations
of it became known at an unfavourable juncture.
It was thought that the state of affairs in Europe
required that they should be discountenanced.
" The acquisition of Singapore has grown in
importance. The stir made here lately for the
further enlargement of the Eastern trade fortified
that impression. It is now accredited in the
India House." *
Undoubtedly the Dutch were making strong
endeavours at this time to procure the removal
from the East of a man who had shown himself
so resolute and capable an opponent of their
commercial system. Raffles himself writes from
Bencoolen in July, 1820, "After all, it is not
* " Memoir of Sir Stamford Raffles."
2/6 A VISIT TO JAVA.
impossible the ministry may be weak enough
to abandon Singapore, and to sacrifice me,
honour, and the Eastern Archipelago to the
outrageous pretensions of the Dutch." For-
tunately he had powerful friends, and he was
not immediately recalled. Meanwhile he con-
tinued to hold the settlement on his personal
responsibility against the efforts of both the
British and Dutch East India Governments.
In eighteen months it had grown from an
insignificant fishing village to a port with
a population of 10,000 inhabitants. During
the first two and a half years of its existence
Singapore was visited by as many as 2889
vessels, with an aggregate burden of 161,515
tons. The total value of its exports and im-
ports for the year 1822 amounted to no less
than 8,568,172 dollars.*
Raffles returned to Singapore on the 10th
of October, 1822, on his way to England. He
remained in the settlement for nine months,
* The Mexican dollar, which varies in value, but is worth
about four shillings.
SINGAPORE. 277
and during this time employed himself in laying-
out the city, and in drawing up rules and regu-
lations for the government of its people. In one
of his letters he expresses a hope " that, though
Singapore may be the first capital established
in the nineteenth century, it will not disgrace
the brightest period of it."
The position of Raffles in respect to Singapore
was indeed remarkable. Though a servant of
the company for five years, he was personally
responsible for the administration of the settle-
ment, and neither the Bengal Government nor
the Court of Directors in London would relieve
him. In the report which he sent to the
Bengal Government before returning to England,
he states the main principles upon which he
has based the regulations which he framed.
At the head of them stands a declaration of
the principle of free trade.
" First I have declared that the port of
Singapore is a free port, and the trade thereof
open to ships and vessels of every nation, free
of duty, equally and alike to all." It was a
18-3
278 A VISIT TO JAVA.
hatred of their monopolist policy which had
especially inspired Raffles in his opposition
to the Dutch. In respect of the question of
the authority of his legislation, he writes that
he considered himself justified in thus pro-
visionally legislating for the settlement by reason
of the existence of "an actual and urgent
necessity for some immediate and provisional
arrangements." He further states that in framing
these regulations he has, while giving due weight
to local considerations, "adhered as closely as
possible to those principles which from im-
memorial usage have ever been considered the
most essential and sacred parts of the British
constitution."
Before he left Singapore, Raffles selected
twelve merchants and appointed them to act
as magistrates for a year. He also provided
for a succession of such magistrates, who were
to be chosen from a list kept by the Resident.
Raffles' career was cut short by his sudden and
premature death, which took place on the 5th of
July, 1826. He had lived, however, long enough
SIXGAPORE. 279
to see the merit of his public conduct established
by the judgment of the Court of Directors,
which I have already mentioned, and which was
pronounced in the preceding April. The
fortunes of Singapore were secured two years
previously to this event, when the island was
formally ceded to the British Government by
the Sultan of Johore, in pursuance of the terms
of an arrangement then concluded between the
Dutch and English Governments. Subsequently
it formed part of the consolidated Government
of Penang, Singapore, and Malacca. In 1867
these settlements were converted into a Crown
colony under the name of the Straits Settlements.
At the present time the colony so constituted is
administered by a Governor, and an Executive
Council of eight members, assisted by a Legisla-
tive Council consisting of these eight official, and
seven other unofficial, members.
The town of Singapore has fully realized
the expectations of its founder. Its rapid and
continuous growth is sufficiently indicated by
the fact that at the present time it possesses
280 A VISIT TO JAVA.
a population of 182,650 inhabitants; while the
importance of its trade is demonstrated by the
fact that more than three million tons of shipping
entered the port in the year 1889. In con-
nection with the orrowino - recognition of the
necessity for an organized system of naval
defence for the empire, the strategical value
of Singapore has of late years been greatly
emphasized, and the defences of the port have
been strengthened and improved. Batteries have
been constructed by the colony at a cost of
,£100,000, which have been furnished with
guns at the expense of the Imperial Govern-
ment. At the same time a new harbour,
including the Tanjong Pagar wharf and docks,
has been added three miles to the westward,
where the largest ocean-going steamships can
find ample space.
The original "fort" is still conspicuous in the
centre of the town, and behind it are the gently
rising hills on which the bungalows of the
English residents are for the most part built.
At evening the blinds are drawn up to welcome
SINGAPORE. 28l
the reviving breath of the sea, and from the open
windows of these bungalows appears a panoramic
scene of singular extent and beauty, and one
which forms a fitting background to the Eastern
viands and Chinese servants which give a
Singapore dinner-party a character of its own.
The ricsha furnishes the streets with an
additional element of picturesqueness. These
charming vehicles are not used, however, by
Europeans during the day. Then the Anglo-
Saxon instinct for respectability (or some more
subtle reason) prescribes the use of the ghari,
which is practically a four-wheeled cab with
Venetian blinds substituted for windows. The
ricsha is especially used by the Chinese, who, as
in Java, have contrived to get most of the retail
trade into their hands, and many of whom are
extremely wealthy and greatly attached to the
British connection. In addition to the public
offices, the most noticeable buildings are the
Government House, which stands on a slight
elevation and is surrounded by a park, the
cathedral, and the Raffles Museum. Near the
282 A VISIT TO JAVA.
Cavanagh Bridge — a handsome iron suspension
bridge which spans the river — is the hospitable
and commodious Singapore club ; and just outside
the town there is a fine race-course. The
esplanade together with this latter provide the
English residents with the means of outdoor
recreation which are so essential in the tropics.
I have already spoken of the great advantage
which Singapore possesses over Batavia in the
singular healthiness of its climate. Almost the
first sight which I saw on my arrival was that of
an English crowd surrounding the tennis courts
on the esplanade, where a very considerable
tournament was proceeding. It is by such
pursuits as these, polo, golf, cricket, and tennis,
that the insidious languor of the East can alone
be resisted.
There are times when, among the prosaic
surroundings of this work-a-day world, our senses
are unexpectedly stirred by some undetected
stimulus which sets in motion a train of memories.
Such memories penetrate even the gloomy recesses
L,
V^'
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i»tortig^yiiig-i!gj
1 --g 5 ^
iHBi
THE CAVANAGH BRIDGE, SINGAPORE.
7><?^ 282.
SINGAPORE. 283
of Temple chambers. Sometimes they bring with
them a waft of perfume from the warm pine
woods that clothe the slopes of Table Mountain ;
sometimes a vision of glassy waters walled by the
sheer mountain heights of New Zealand Sounds ;
or it may be a sense of calm swan-like motion
over the sunlit reaches of the Hawkesbury. Not
least interesting among such memories I count
the recollection of a time when life was lived on
a verandah, in the twilight of palm leaves, and
its needs were served by dusky ministers whose
footfall brought no disturbing sound.
It is not so very long ago since Mr. Lucy
wrote that a man in search of " pastures new "
might do worse than try Japan. I would add
that, having tried Japan (and who has not ?), he
might do worse than take to Java. Here, in an
island where the business of the great world is
heard only as the murmur of a neighbouring
stream, he will find an ancient and interesting
civilization still existing, some vast Hindu ruins,
and the gardens of Buitenzorg.
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